Back to School: Kindergarten Cat by J. Patrick Lewis

IN A COZY GREEN CORNER

IN A KINDERGARTEN ROOM,

A KITTY CAT NAPS

BY THE CLASSROOM BROOM.

There's nothing which makes the Kindergarten room seem warm and fuzzy like a sweet and furry little tabby kitten, and when Mr. Bigbuttons, the jovial principal, finds a homeless kitty on the playground, he knows just which students will love the little stray cat right away.

As the children assemble on their little carpet squares for story time, their teacher shows them their newest class member, and they christen the kitty "Tinker Toy." Little Tink is everyone's best friend as she joins in the class activities, and even knows the answers, showing off her academic acumen at circle time:

"FOOT FITS IN A SHOE.

HAT FITS A HEAD.

WHAT ELSE FITS TOGETHER?"

"ME---YOU!" TINKER SAID.

And Tinker Toy does fit right in as the main character in J. Patrick Lewis's brand-new Kindergarten Cat (Schwartz Wade, 2010). Illustrated in collage and soft but warm pencil and colored pen faux naif drawings by Allie Busby, this quietly rhyming first-day-of-Kindergarten story is reassuring for students new to the school experience. J. Patrick Lewis is also the author of First Dog, Arithme-Tickle: An Even Number of Odd Riddle-Rhymes, and Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year.