On the First Day of Kindergarten: A First Day of School Book for Kids

by Tish Rabe, Laura Hughes (Illustrator)

Overview

Perfect for nervous/excited kids about to go to kindergarten (and their parents!). This engaging adaptation of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” convinces parents and children alike that there is no place cooler than a kindergarten classroom.

On the first day of kindergarten, there’s so much to do! From making new friends to jumping rope in gym to riding the bus to school, there are lots of exciting firsts to look forward to.

Even though saying good-bye to Mom and Dad is hard, when the school bus pulls up, it’s time to begin kindergarten fun.

Share at home along with such books as Clover Kitty Goes to Kittygarten and Kindergarten, Here I Come!

Tish Rabe is a seasoned children’s book author with over 160 titles, including ones for Sesame Street and Curious George, under her belt. Like Natasha Wing with The Night Before Christmas, Rabe puts a novel spin on a first-day-of-school classic with On the First Day of Kindergarten.

And don't miss the follow-up: On the First Day of First Grade!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063237575
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/31/2021
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Tish Rabe is a bestselling author who has written over one hundred and sixty children's books, including titles for The Cat in the Hat Knows About That!, Sesame Street, Blue's Clues, Disney, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Curious George. Ms. Rabe lives in New York City and Mystic, Connecticut.

Editorial Reviews

05/09/2016
It’s Christmas in July (sort of) as Rabe adapts “The Twelve Days of Christmas” to a kindergarten setting. As she and Hughes follow a girl with a ladybug backpack through the first 12 days of her school year, Rabe maintains the cumulative structure of the original carol, but skips the counting lesson. Thus, the second day of kindergarten features “making lots of friends,” and day five is all about “singing a song” (a line designed to be belted out à la “five golden rings”). Hughes mixes pencil, paint, and digital media as she creates a rough-and-tumble cast of scruffy-haired kindergartners in brightly colored outfits, who take part in a footrace on the fourth day of school, paint pictures on day nine, and head to the zoo for a field trip on the 12th day. It’s an upbeat, readily sing-able portrait of the fun side of kindergarten. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Marisa Corvisiero, Corvisiero Literary. (June)

Publishers Weekly

08/01/2016
PreS-K—This cumulative verse describes the joyful activities of the first few days of kindergarten. Only the first two verses rhyme and most, but not all, contain alliteration. Still, the lines scan well and beg to be sung to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." For example, "On the third day of kindergarten/I thought it was so cool/counting up to ten, making lots of friends,/and riding the bus to my school!" The ink, paint, and collage digital illustrations have the hectic feel of a kindergarten class and feature a diverse group of students. VERDICT A general purchase for libraries looking to add to their first day of school collections, this one makes a good read/sing aloud.—Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

School Library Journal

2016-05-04
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: "On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!" The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis' The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews