THE TWELVE DAYS OF KINDERGARTEN

A delightful counting book modeled on the Twelve Days of Christmas. Rose presents the first 12 days of kindergarten through the activities of one small girl. She reads books, draws pictures, strings beads, makes puzzles, plants seeds, feeds the fish, and sorts and stacks objects. The illustrations marvelously depict the whole range of kindergarten emotions—from shy and quiet to scared or thrilled, as well as the different kinds of kids—the clumsy one, the nose-picker, the one who won’t share, and the budding artist. The observant reader will pick up clever details hidden within the illustrations—the children’s drawings are reproductions of famous paintings, the overfed fish gradually grow too large for the aquarium, and each turn of the page is a new step in the romance between the class hamsters. As the days go by, the poor kindergarten teacher looks more and more frazzled, while the kids make new friends, explore new things, and end up loving school. A great start. (Picture book. 4-8)