E Pluribus Unum! The Class by Boni Ashburn

The alarm clock sounds on that fateful morning!

SOME ARE EAGER, UP SINCE DAWN.
THREE JUST SIT AND YAWN AND YAWN.

It's the first day of Kindergarten, and all over the school district, twenty kids in nineteen different houses are getting up (or not!) to get ready for school.

FIVE BEGIN TO LOOK ALIVE.
ONE'S SURE HE WON'T SURVIVE!

Some breakfast heartily on pancakes, some with butterflies in their tummies can barely swallow a bite. Some have their first-day outfits at the ready. Some can't even find socks that match. Some have new shoes, shiny and stiff. Some have "the old shoe blues." Some have ribbons in their hair and others still have bed-head tangles.

FIVE PULL ON THEIR FAVORITE JEANS.
TWO ARE FASHIONISTA QUEENS.

And then by the big yellow bus, by family cars, and car pools in vans, and even trudging down the block, all the different kids converge on the school, where all ages crowd in through those open doors to begin again:

THROUGH THE DOORS THAT ALL MUST PASS....AND THEN..... WELCOME STUDENTS TO OUR CLASS!

Out of many... one!

Twenty different kids, all different in their different ways, meet their teacher, ready to start the job of making them into one class, in Boni Ashburn's back-to-school look at how one classroom worth of kids start to school, The Class (Beach Lane Books, 2016).

Author Ashburn has a wonderful way with rhyming couplets, portraying all the rituals, routines, and snafus of that first morning of school, as well as with honesty and humor the myriad of emotions that first-time Kindergartners must feel as they face that first day. The delightfully detailed artwork by Kimberly Gee gives each distinct child his or her own personality, style, and body language which together make clear the excitement, the anxieties, and the promise of starting school, and subtly reveals the task that that one teacher faces in bringing all that diversity together into a group that can support each other and learn through that all-important first year. It takes all kinds to make a world and a class, and each youngster who shares this book can see himself or herself in one or more of these rising Kindergartners.

As Publishers Weekly says, "the book’s biggest strength is its subtle recognition of difference: even though these kids are all headed to the same place, their individual family situations, moods, and interests all play roles in bringing them there."

Back to School: Monkey Not Ready for Kindergarten by Marc Brown

Monkey's got a bad case of the Kindergarten jitters.

With just one week to go to the big day, those unknowns, the WHAT IFs, are worrying.

WHY DOES MONKEY NEED TO GO TO KINDERGARTEN ANYWAY?

HE ALREADY CAN COUNT TO 12, AND HE USUALLY REMEMBERS MOST OF THE ALPHABET?

But what if--he misses the bus... makes no friends.... can't locate the bathroom in time... can't stomach the lunches.... and forgets the whole alphabet?

But mom and dad reassure Monkey that he IS going to be ready.

First things first. Mom takes Monkey to pick out the perfect lunch box and promises to pack nothing with peas in it. Monkey gets a new backpack, and he and Mom and Dad read books about the first day of school.

But Monkey still does not feel ready.

THE DAY BEFORE KINDERGARTEN, MONKEY HAS A PLAYDATE WITH SOME KIDS WHO ARE GOING TO BE IN HIS CLASS.

His friends are full on enthusiasm about all the things to look forward to: The cubbies have their names painted on them! Their teacher is very nice! The playground has great slides and monkey bars. What's not to like?

And when the first day of Kindergarten dawns, Monkey is ready.

The beloved author-illustrator Marc Brown, creator of Arthur and D.W.'s aardvark adventures, takes on Kindergarten anxiety headlong by pointing out things to do to head off the worst case scenarios that new students imagine, and Monkey feel ready to handle what comes when he waves goodbye in Brown's latest, Monkey: Not Ready for Kindergarten (Alfred A. Knopf Books, 2015). Knowledge is power, and armed with information about Kindergarten, this newbie feels empowered. For more pre-Kindergarten prep, pair this one with Katie Davis' Kindergarten Rocks! (review here) or Sue Ganz-Schmitt's Planet Kindergarten (see review here.).

Back to School: Planet Kindergarten by Sue Ganz-Schmitt

TODAY IS LIFTOFF.

I SUIT UP. DAD HELPS ME WITH MY GEAR.

INTO THE ROCKET!

BOOSTERS FIRE...  BLAST OFF!

There are times in life when a person just has to boldly go...into a new frontier... into a new place in space... even into the world of Planet Kindergarten.

This little astronaut has all the right stuff his mission requires... he hopes! But what if his lunch floats off into outer space?

There's plenty to worry about as the family space shuttle searches for a place to dock, but once inside the big space station, he gets the idea that this command crew knows the drill.

WE ARE ALIENS FROM MANY GALAXIES.
OUR COMMANDER GIVES US OUR FLIGHT PLANS FOR THE DAY.

The little crew mates notice that things in their pod are different from home. There's a different atmosphere here. Even gravity seems to be altered.

WE HAVE TO TRY TO STAY IN OUR SEATS. AND OUR HANDS GO UP A LOT!

It is a new environment, and some of the rookies can't help eyeing the escape hatch. But their training prevails, and they soon get to work executing their mission. Planet Kindergarten is a whole new world, but it is a stimulating one, and before the crew knows it, it's time for splashdown on their home planet ... until tomorrow, when their explorations continue.

Author Sue Ganz-Schmitt's& Planet Kindergarten (Chronicle Books, 2014) offers a unique concept of Kindergarten as a voyage to a different world--which in many ways it is. Some kids contemplating the liftoff to Kindergarten will like to think of themselves as intrepid astronauts on a mission to explore a new world, and artist Shane Prigmore's retro space cartooning, set in digital electric colors against glossy black backgrounds, offers plenty of visual humor in his spoof of the Jetsons-style school that will give rising Kindergartners a giggle and perhaps a new, more heroic view of their mission. "A genius way to ease kids into the new adventure," intones Kirkus Reviews.

Graduation Evaluation: The Best Thing about Kindergarten by Jennifer Lloyd

It's not over until it's over, but for Mrs. Appleby's Kindergarten class, all a-bubble over their graduation program today, it seems like it is. They've practiced singing their song on the stage and finished their craft-paper mortarboards, and they can't wait to march in with their parents as the audience and stand up there proudly.

But there is still a little time until they get the call to line up for the procession, and Mrs. Appleby has one lesson left to teach.

Mrs. Appleby looked at her class proudly.

They had made fancy hats... and special decorations.

They knew how to sing their graduation song.

"We still have time for one last guessing game. See if you can guess what is the best thing about Kindergarten?

Hands shoot up. Tabitha says it must be Calendar Time, and some of the kids who agree start reciting the days of the week!

Corinne disagrees. It's the Playhouse Center for her. Benjamin favors the Block Box, and Clara goes for Arts and Crafts.

Suggestions fly--everything from Math Time to the all-time favorite--Recess!

But Mrs. Appleby smiles and shakes her head. Nobody has guessed her best thing yet. But just as the circle of kids are racking their brains, the call comes to line up and go to the auditorium for the big ceremony.

"This is our grade today.
With much pride we are on our way!" they sing.

The diplomas are passed out to much applause from their teacher and the whole audience. But some of the kids still have a question for Mrs. Appleby, and this time she has the answer:

"Kids, what's the best thing about Kindergarten?" she says, with a dramatic pause.

"It's each one of you, of course. My students are the best thing about Kindergarten!"

Jennifer Lloyd's newest, The Best Thing about Kindergarten (Simply Read Books, 2013) is a great read-aloud for the end of the school year for kindergartners, a simple, child-centered story which celebrates how a group of very different preschoolers have made the transition into a class of real school kids. Qin Leng's illustrations are full of movement and colorful energy just like any group of five-year-olds, and  Lloyd's text recalling the academic adventures of the year has earned this one a gold-star review from Kirkus. A Kindergarten teacher herself, Lloyd is also an experienced author. (See my review of her earlier book, Ella's Umbrellas, here.)

Back to School: You Are My Wonders by Maryann Love

I AM YOUR TEACHER.
YOU ARE MY SCHOOL.

I AM YOUR BLANK PAPER.
YOU ARE MY WORK OF ART.

A teacher greets her class on the first day of school, the year ahead a blank canvas on which everything is yet to be drawn. The new students sit in a story circle, for the moment a circle of quiet, waiting to see what their teacher is like, what their school year is going to be. It's quite a moment--that one just before the new teacher begins to speak and the school year begins.

Maryann Cusimano Love's teacher pilots a reassuring take-off as her new little class gets off the ground. Her latest early childhood book, You Are My Wonders (Philomel, 2012), soft pedals the first day of preschool/Kindergarten, with a series of metaphors which might mystify a real group of kids, but in its easy couplet cadence is gently reassuring to school newbies. Her teacher is a comfortably rounded elephant, and her students are shown as plush animal personalities in a series of cozy, pastel illustrations in the well-known style of Satori Ichikawa, made famous in their best-seller, You Are My I Love You.

I AM YOUR STORY.
YOU ARE MY WIDE EYES.

Ms. Elephant seems to relish the good moments, but she has obviously been around this particular block a few times and knows that there will be some chaos ahead.

I AM YOUR CALM.
YOU ARE MY THUNDER.

Still, it's a soft sell, as Love and Itchikawa offer a spoonful-of-sugar approach to first day fears in this super-sweet look at the activities--crafts, storytime, recess, plant and hamster time--that make up the early childhood day, made easy by a teacher who obviously believes in her students.

For a more intense, more realistic look at the whole first-day thing, try Joseph Slate's classic, Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten (Miss Bindergarten Books).