We Like Kindergarten

We Like Kindergarten
Clara Cassidy pictures by Eloise Wilkin
Western Publishing Company, 1965

As a tribute to one of my son's BFFs who just started kindergarten this month, we've been reading this title daily. Even though it was a childhood favorite for me, the boy has taken it on as his own because the main character looks scarily similar to the aforementioned BFF. During reads, we even have to incorporate her name, the name of her sister and all their animal names. Soooo cute. I can't think of a better book about a child entering into his/her first year of formal education. Sadly though, I doubt kindergarten today is as carefree and playful as it seems in these pages. After all, the boy's BFF's mother says the BFF is already getting homework. HOMEWORK!?!

All the boys and girls go into the kindergarten.
Miss Hall is our teacher.
She plays the piano.
We sing, "Good morning to you."
Michael feeds our fish.
Susan feeds our turtles.
Someday it will be my turn to feed them.

So if you want to wax nostalgic about those ancient days when kindergarten meant singing "Farmer in the Dell" and making clay animals (kinda sounds like preschool to me), check it out. You can't go wrong with Wilkin's illustrations anyway, so it's a win, win. Maybe you can read it to your kindergartner in between running their multiplication tables and teaching them E=mc2.

Also by:
The Wonders of the Seasons
Birds
Wonders of Nature