Back to School: Preschool Day...Hooray! by Linda Strauss

HI TO TEACHER.

COAT ON HOOK.

RUN TO SHELF.

FIND A BOOK!

For most kids, spending part of their day at preschool is their first venture into another world outside the one of home. At any age new worlds--new surroundings, new people, new social settings--have their built-in stresses, and Linda Leopold Strauss' sturdy, rhyming Preschool Day Hooray! (Scholastic,2010) is just the right pre-preschool prep for the youngest scholars. From early morning hustle and a strangely rushed mom to the daily schedule of activities--song circles, playground challenges and exciting play equipment, rest time, and crafts with teacher--this book takes the little reader through most of the usual cycle of preschool activities.

CLAP OUR HANDS!

AND STOMP OUR FEET.

SING THE SONGS.

AND TAP THE BEAT!

HOKEY POKEY? OKEY-DOKEY!

And after all the songs are sung and all the wooden blocks are back in their box comes an especially happy time.

BYE-BYE, FRIENDS!

IT'S MOMMY-TIME!

Hiroe Nakato's soft faux-naif illustrations show children going through the day's schedule in a non-threatening style that emphasizes the thrill of simple activities--taking care of the class garden, tracing a trail of ants across the play yard, feeding the fuzzy hamster, and trying out the slippery slide--and stresses the promise of new adventures with new playmates.

Present this one with Anne Rockwell's tried-and-true My Preschool and, for kids who have a bit of separation anxiety, Anna Dewdney's new must-have, Llama Llama Misses Mama.