Julie Durrell

Such a cute book!

This is a delightful long poem with adorable illustrations and encouragement for all soon-to-be kindergartners. I find this book especially precious because the first of my own grandchildren is about to enter kindergarten soon. I can identify with the teary-eyed parents of the kindergartners in this book. This book is a stark, but loving, reminder of how quickly our children grow up!

I adored this book for two reasons. First, the language in the book uses the identical rhythm used in the poem of “Twas the Night before Christmas,” a story in which almost all children have heard at least once in their lifetime. For example, ‘Twas the night before kindergarten, and as they prepared, kids were excited and a little bit scared.” The use of the rhythm allows for a connection and a feeling of comfort that is inviting the reader to continue reading along with the rhyme in show more mind.
Second, the story depicts the nerves and anticipation of the night before and on the morning of the first day of kindergarten by using the illustrations to show how children and parents both react to the first day of school. For example, “The children were happy. They loved Miss Sunrise! It was she who was in for a giant surprise.” The illustrations depicted children laughing and playing, making crafts, and making friends. The next page states “When what to her wondering eyes should appear but sad moms and dads who were holding back tears! Theirs noses—so sniffy! Their eyes—red and wet! This was the saddest good-bye Miss Sunrise had seen yet!” The illustrations showed all of the parents huddled in the door way sniffling and holding back tears with sad and gloomy faces.
The main idea of this story is to show children and parents that the first day of kindergarten is full of crazy emotions both good and bad. However, by the end of the day the kids realize that school is fun and there was nothing to worry about. The parents learned that it was ok that their kids were having fun without them because they were growing up. show less

This story sets new words to the rhyme scheme and rhythm of the old poem, Twas the Night Before Christmas, creating a story about experiencing kindergarten for the first time. The author did a good job of matching sentences and words to the rhyme so that it never felt forced, but retained the same fluid jollity of the the original. Nonetheless, because the Night Before Christmas poem is so prevalent, it still feels like a copy when you read it. The story is about the excitement in preparing show more for kindergarten the night before, the nerves and anticipation on the morning of, and the ease with which the children join their new class while their parents struggle to see them go. The twist at the end is funny, as are the bright and colorful illustrations. Although I prefer original narratives, it is fun to sometimes read stories that are new in content but familiar in rhythm. Also, this is a great book for children who are about to enter kindergarten (as my oldest did this year), with its positive story and a poem format perfectly suited for oral reading. show less

Very cute book. Great take off of the book "Twas The Night Before Christmas". This is a great book about the fears that most kids go through before their first day of Kindergarten. The twist was the kids were not the ones crying in the end, it was actually the parents.I read this to my Kindergarten class on the first day. The kids were able to relate a lot to the story about the things they did before Kindergarten. Written in a poetic tone with rhyme. I thought the illustrations were great show more as well. show less