Sachiko Yoshikawa

The last day of school can be sad, scary, exciting and even hopeful. For one little girl finishing Kindergarten, the last day of school is all these feelings. Lucky for her and all of her classmates, their wonderful teacher is there. Discussing the parts of Kindergarten that were fun and the parts that they are all going to miss the most. Helping the children to face their fears of what will be found in First grade by talking about what they are looking forward to the most, what they can show more expect and what will be the same. The sadness of the last day turns to fun as the day becomes a celebration of accomplishments. The proud Kindergarten class gets a chance to show what they have learned in front of family then proceed in becoming a First graders.

Fantastic storyline that is easy to relate to. I may not remember my own time spent in Kindergarten but watching my children go through it was almost as good. While I think that the book could have flowed better between remembering their time in class and their anticipation of the future. Or touched some of the deeper concerns of this emotional time for kids. I appreciated how simple it was to start the “I remember when” conversations with kids about their time in Kindergarten. I believe that point is to make the transition easier on the child and this story just might help. The illustrations by Sachiko Yoshikawa are colorful and happy, they do a great job of depicting the story as it is told. I have already offered to donate the book to a favorite Kindergarten teacher in our Elementary school. I hope she and all her classes to will enjoy it as much as my family has. show less

The story made me feel excited to start kindergarten. It tells me that I will make new friends. It sounds like kindergarten will be fun. I’ll get to paint and I’ll clean up my messes. I’ll get to play.
I liked The Last Day of Kindergarten because it’s such a good book. My favorite part was when they were peeking in to see the crowd. I really liked their hats. It made me happy that their mom and dad was there, too.
I think other kids will like this book, too. They should read it and show more keep it forever. They should even keep it for their kids.
~Alexandra, 5 years old, almost a kindergartner~
I chose The Last Day of Kindergarten by Nancy Loewen in the hopes that it would help to ease some of my daughter’s worries about kindergarten, even though the story itself is clearly about the end of kindergarten. I was not disappointed. The story covers many aspects of kindergarten, from the first day all the way until the last.
The intended message of helping a child just finishing kindergarten to be happily and comfortably prepared to transition into the first grade was well done. I am positive that many kindergartners are worried about what will happen when they come back for first grade in the fall. This book is a great way to help ease those fears.
The story line flows nicely. It starts off a little sad and as the story progresses you can feel the excitement building. “I did it! First grade here I come!” This is probably exactly the flow of emotions a kindergartner feels on the last day.
The illustrations are very bright and eye catching. There is a softness to the illustrations that keeps them well-blended to the page. Even the illustrations build with excitement. Sachiko Yoshikawa did a beautiful job with these illustrations.
Nancy Loewen did an excellent job with this book, and I recommend it to all mothers of kindergarten aged children.
~Tiffany A. Higgins, children’s author~ show less

This is a delightful book for kindergarteners who are just a little apprehensive about starting Grade One. I remember my daughter telling me that Grade One was hard and not as fun as Kindergarten. I think this book would have eased her transition.

The story, told in first person point-of-view, follows a little girl who is sad that it's the last day of kindergarten and she wishes it was the first. She reminisces about all that she's done. The teacher then helps the class to look forward to show more summer and Grade One. There is even a graduation ceremony at the end. My kids both made their own graduation hats, but their small ceremonies was not held on a stage with an audience of parents as described in the book. Nonetheless, it brought back memories for my kids and me.

I just loved the bright, colourful and detailed illustrations in this book. As I was reading it to my son, I would ask him to find in the pictures objects that I named, and he would scour the pages in search of them. He is ending Grade One, though, and thought this book too “young” for him. Unlike my daughter, he had no problem transitioning from Kindergarten.

If you have a child who is approaching his last day of kindergarten, this book will resonate and help him understand the transition from school to summer and back again. A cute book, to be sure. show less

Nancy Loewen has written another incredible story that children will love in The Last Day of Kindergarten. This book is a memory of all he things that were accomplished in kindergarten throughout the year. Sachiko Yoshikawa beautiful illustrations, present a mix of media resembling brightly colored photographs taken throughout the year. The story takes us through a year of kindergarten and builds up to the final steps; graduation and then, 1st grade here we come. Leaving kindergarten can show more bring on a lot of mixed emotions for a child. The author leaves many areas that can lead to discussions about their accomplishment and fears in leaving behind familiarity. The Last Day of Kindergarten will help children understand that leaving kindergarten is an accomplishment and first grade is going to be a fun and new exciting experience.

This story is told through the eyes of an adorable kindergartener reliving the 1st day of school and taking us to the end of the school year. Her teacher Mrs. Popinski, tells the students that they are ready for 1st grade. They have reached a great accomplishment, made many friends and learned many things. We even get a sneak peak at what graduation, summer and what 1st grade will be like. I love the conclusion of the story, where the graduation cap is thrown in the air and our adorable character is saying, “I did it!” “First grade, here I come!”

This story will help students overcome their fear of the end of kindergarten and help them realize that 1st grade will be a happy experience. Nancy Loewen did an excellent job giving plenty of opportunity for discussion. I highly recommend this story of accomplishment to all children form pre-kindergarten through graduates. Every student should have this book, as kindergarten is a special time and this book will serve as a special memory. show less