The Night Before Kindergarten

Children prepare for their first day of kindergarten. They are anxious at first, but come to realize how great kindergarten is.

Source: Pierce County Library
Age: 4-5

This is a wonderful book to share with little ones who are coming to Kindergarten.

There are many getting-ready-for-school books. This one is enjoyable because it uses rhyme in the style of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" (which is familiar to many children) as well as gentle humor. For example, it's the parents who cry and feel sad---not the children! The plot focuses mostly

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on the tasks needed to get ready and only slightly touches on fears. A good book that addresses children's real fears about school and change is "Wemberly Worried."

This would be a fun book for a kindergarten teacher to read the first day with her/his class. They could then talk about what each child did to get ready for the first day. They could even create a class chart and tally how many children did the activities listed in the book in order to be ready for their first day of kindergarten! The children could then illustrate themselves doing one of the tasks, which could be hung up to show the children's first-day work (handwriting, etc) compared to their work later in the school year.

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I really enjoyed sharing this story with my nephew Jason, who started Kindergarten this year. at his age it helped to hear what might happen and to see the colorful pictures of how the parents and children went step by step to get ready then go to the first day.

This is a cute book that helps students ease fears about beginning kindergarten. Students will enjoy the rhyming text and bright pictures.
Teachers will be able to share this book with the class and begin discussion among the class about how each child got ready for school on the first day of

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school.

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Very cute book. Great take off of the book "The Night Before Christmas". 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.

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

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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 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.

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The Night Before Kindergarten is an adorably illustrated poem that tells the story of a girl preparing for her first day of kindergarten. It's written to the same rhythm as the classic Christmas poem Twas the Night Before Christmas, so many children may enjoy hearing "new words" to the poem. As

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well as being good for addressing first day anxieties, it could also be a fun language arts lesson for a poetry unit with some of your older students. She also has a version of the book called The Night Before First Grade if you're a first grade teacher or the parent of a first grader.

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Kids preparing for the first day of school by thinking about school supplies, posing for pictures ad saying good-bye to their parents.
AGES: 4-5
SOURCE: ECE LIBRARY

This story talks about getting ready for kindergarten for the first day of it.
Source: Graham Library
Age: 6

Children get ready for their first day of kindergarten. Everyone is anxious at first, but decide kindergarten is a lot of fun.

Age: 4-6
Source: Pierce College Library

Numerous children are preparing for their first day of kindergarten.

Ages: 4-5

Source: Personal Collection

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

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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 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.

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This is a cute rhyming story about how children are excited for their first day of kindergarten.
ages 3,4,5
pierce county library

Goes to the Christmas poem, Twas the night before Christmas. The excitement of going to school for the first time. But it sounds like the parents are just as sad. It is really cute. Nice book to read to kindergarten and first graders. Role reversal parents are the sad ones.

This book shows the process that kids and parents go through when making the transition between not being a student and being in school for the first time in kindergarten. This book shows how much anxiety, preparation, excitement, and difference there is between preschool and kindergarten. It also

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shows the first day of kindergarten from the parent's perspective by having a hard time letting go of their children! This is the perfect book to read to a classroom on their first day of kindergarten!
Genre: Realistic Fiction

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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

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kindergartners in this book. This book is a stark, but loving, reminder of how quickly our children grow up!

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