It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog hop co-hosted by Unleashing Readers and Teach Mentor Texts which focuses on sharing books marketed for children and young adults. It offers opportunities to share and recommend books with each other.
This week we discovered the exciting world of Daniel Tiger! My son doesn’t watch cartoons (entirely his own choice, he has never shown any interest in any cartoon we’ve tried), but he does sometimes like books based on cartoon characters. We’ve started swimming lessons at the local community center, so when I saw this book on the shelf, I decided to give it a try.
A (my son) really liked it! And I like the part about following the rules to stay safe in the pool, since we’ve been having some trouble with A not exactly listening to his swim teacher – apparently just hopping around wildly in the pool is much more fun that learning to float.
Since then I’ve borrowed a bunch of other Daniel Tiger books, including:
These books are great! A has an egg allergy, so reading about Daniel managing his allergy is great reinforcement. A is still really nervous at the dentist, too, so it was great to read about teeth cleaning.
I particularly love the series’ oft repeated refrain : when we do something new, we talk about what we’ll do. It’s so simple, but it was kind of revelatory for me. We have some big events coming up, and it just reminded me how important knowledge is, and how it can help children feel more confident and better able to handle new situations.
On the First Day of Kindergarten
You’re going to be seeing a lot of kindergarten books in the next few months as we slowly prepare A to start elementary school in September. This book was pretty cute – it’s written in the style of the Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, and every page shows a different fun activity that kids often do in Kindergarten. Like most of these kinds of books, there’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about it, but it’s sweet and positive and comforting, which is exactly what I’m looking for. A isn’t really nervous about Kindergarten, so I’m trying to avoid picture books that emphasize a child protagonist’s pre-Kindergarten jitters, so as to not introduce new worries! If he does start expressing concern, we can take a look at books like that, but right now he’s more curious than anything else, so I’m trying to focus on the many positives of starting kindergarten. I did find it interesting that the first “cool” thing the protagonist mentions is taking the bus to school, which isn’t all that common in my suburban neighbourhood, where most children walk, bike or are driven to school.
I can hardly believe we’re so close to starting elementary school – it feels like such a big moment as a parent!
Have a great reading week!
I’ve always admired Kindergarten teachers. They have such a big responsibility to help their students begin school and love it! What fun you are having getting ready for this big step, Jane. Thanks for the books. You’ve given me an idea for the bookstore’s back-to-school display, a “getting ready?” one. This year, my oldest granddaughter started high school. She loves it now but was very nervous! Have a great week!
Hi Jane,
Children grow up so fast. I remember when you just had A!
I purchased 1, 2, 3, Off to School! by Marianne Dubuc the year before my grandkids started K. It is lots of fun to pore over. Those Daniel Tiger books look wonderful.
I can hardly believe that we’re just a few months away from kindergarten – how has the time flown by so quickly? I still can’t quite wrap my head around it! And then *my* mum laughs and reminds me that she’s watching *her* baby raise a baby! 😉