Off to Kindergarten
Author: Tony Johnston Illustrator: Melissa Sweet Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. Year of Publication: 2007 Genre: Rhyming, Children’s picture book, Poetry Horn Book Reviews Rating: (3) Summary: This book is about a little boy’s preparation for his first day of kindergarten. He is extremely excited to begin his school year that he wants to bring almost everything that he owns with him to school. He quickly learns that he is not able to bring all of his things to school, because they will have everything he could need already there waiting for him. |
Summary of Professional Reviews:
In the professional review on the Horn Book Guide, the reviewer describes the summary of what happens in this book and how the little boy has an entire list full of things he wants to bring to school on the first day. They describe the illustrations as “childlike art”.
|
Shelby Wetzel's Review:
I think that this book is perfect to help young children transition into a new school year. It is a silly book that children can relate to about the unexpected ideas of a new school year. The illustrator does an amazing job to show detailed drawings of everything that the boy wants to bring to school with him.
|
How to Use it in the Classroom:
This book can be used in the classroom to read to the students on the first day of school. I would probably read this book to a kindergarten class as a way to introduce a silly “break the ice” type of book that they may be able to relate too. Or, I would read this on the first day of first grade as an opening topic of how the first day of kindergarten was a lot scarier than the first day of first grade because the students had an idea of what to expect. This book could also be used for a lesson in the beginning of the school year to ask the students to draw or write about what they wished they could have brought to school with them that day. That could also lead into a show and tell day!
Another way that this book could be used in the classroom is to show students to use of rhyming words in a story. This book had simple, yet silly rhyming words on every page that turned it into a poem-like book. |