Jacqueline Rogers

I'm a little wary of books that tell kids God is totally real, but I think the "some people say ..." approach that I've taken with Santa will also serve here, and then this story is also a critical part of our cultural heritage and the ways it's acted out by kids in a pageant is cute. But what makes this wonderful is the way the story is interspersed with nativity songs--"We Three Kings," "Away in a Manger," O Little Town of Bethlehem" etc. etc.--which are beautiful and soothing and total show more sleep catnip (sleepnip???) to a child. show less

When Mrs. Miller's class goes outside, they notice a baby goose that has been separated from its mother. The class tries to stand as still as possible so that they won't disrupt the reunion between goose and gosling.

Because it's meant for beginning readers, the sentences in this book are very short and simple, containing relatively easy words to decode. The illustrations are there to show what is in the text and provide additional clues to help young readers. Therefore, this isn't the most show more complex literary or artistic endeavor. Nevertheless, this is a cute book that will resonate with young readers because most of it is everyday stuff - cleaning up centers at school, going outside for recess, drawing together, etc. And, the story of the goose is just the kind of real-life event that excites young children when it happens to them. In fact, I read this book with my toddler class because they've been so excited about the geese we've been seeing outside our classroom window. show less

Gilbert attends a sleepover. He is really nervous about all the little things such as finding the bathroom. We see Gilbert being scared. As the story goes on we see Gilbert grow into this fun loving child who is just a natural at sleepovers. But, When night falls Gilbert falls back into being scared and missing home. The friends calm him down and fall fast asleep. I think this is a problem children face. We are all nervous sleeping at someone elses house and following their routines. We are show more all scared of missing mommy at night and getting tucked in. However, with some encouragement we can get through it and can't wait for the next time. show less

This book follows the perspective of a preschool girl sneaking into her brother's kindergarten classroom. She discovers what it is like to go to school and the book does a great job of introducing the school experience.