ROCKS! by Katie Davis addresses the fear of many children setting off on that first day of school the anxiety, the worry, the imagined worstcasescenarios.
Dexter has them all.
Dexter is a little boy soon to start kindergarten, Dexter knows all about kindergarten because his older sister Jessica, who is going into grade, told him about it, Even so, hes nervous about it, or rather his toy blue dog Rufus is worried about it, Jessica encourages her brother not to worry because kindergarten rocks! Dexter keeps trying to convince himself itll be fine, but he takes Rufus along for moral support.
The colourful illustrations created by the author illustrator, Katie Davis contribute to the humour of the story, Example: “When we finally got to school, I couldnt wait to see my classroom, ” The illustrations belie what Dexter is saying because in that scene Jessica is pulling Dexter who is strongly resisting,
Much to Dexters relief, he discovers he has a friend from preschool in his class and he soon forgets to be anxious.
There are so many fun things to do that Dexter even forgets where he left Rufus, Then hes worried for a totally other reason and a search ensues,
Told mostly by Dexter himself, Kindergarten ROCKS! is a story young readers and prereaders will really enjoy, The illustrations fit well with the words to add to the humour and show the childs angst which is quickly resolved, The images are bright, bold, uncomplicated, and look as if they were created through the use of Crayola crayons which are depicted on one page.
And who doesnt love using Crayolas
Kindergarten ROCKS! written and illustrated by Katie Davis is a must read book for young children and the adults who read to them.
Its fun, bright, and reassuring, This is an excellent book to read to your child as they get ready to start Kindergarten, This book is about a little boy named Dexter who, like most young children of that age, is nervous about starting Kindergarten, Throughout the book he verbalizes his fears, with his sister assuring him that there is no need to worry, I think this is a good book because young children will see not only does Dexter have the same fears they do, but that there really is no need to worry because there are teachers and other adults to help them out.
Dexter does something that is common among young children he say he is not scared but his stuffed dog is, Like most children, he wants to appear brave when he really is nervous, This is an important thing to notice among kids and to remind them that there is no reason to worry, At the end of the book, Dexter is not nervous but excited to go to Kindergarten, As a teacher, I would read this book on the first day of Kindergarten, showing with words and the vibrant illustrations that children will overcome their fears and enjoy and look forward to going to school.
In this book, Dexter is headed to kindergarten, He enlists the help of his sister, Jessie, to answer some of his questions and ease his anxieties about going to kindergarten, Jessie answers his questions and assures him that "Kindergarten Rocks!"
Once Dexter gets to kindergarten, his experiences are fraught with new and exciting times that are a little unnerving.
However, at every turn there are positive people and places that again remind him that kindergarten is fun!
I like that this book doesn't shy away from the fact that kids worry and wonder about the unknown.
This book is filled with postive messages and people who will help kids transitioning to kindergarten and school know that they are not alone and that while some experiences may cause anxiety, they can be fun too! There are sooooo many books out there that tell stories about the first day of kindergarten.
I, personally, do not think that this one stands out, Nonetheless, the story and characters are truly relatable, The five year olds that I read it to really enjoyed it, So what do I know Genre: Picture Book
Audience: Knd
Topic: Going to Kindergarten
Theme: Overcoming fears
Curricular Uses: Read Aloud, Independent Reading, Shared Reading
Reading Level: Early Readers
Literary Elements: Repetition, some rhyme
Illustrations: Very creative illustrations that reinforce the text.
The use of speech bubbles in the illustrations adds energy to the pictures, Sometimes there are small illustrations on the page with text beside it that helps the reader figure out the text,
Additional Comments: I loved this book, It was so creative because it is told from the perspective of the little boy, It brings to life the common fears that children have about
school, I think children will love reading this book on their own, Even though it is specifically about kindergarten, I would continue using this in other grades because I think children will find the humor in the book.
They will be able to relate to the character in the book and see how much they have changed since they went to kindergarten.
This was a little hard as a readaloud because of the speech bubbles, I did a lot of "Then his sister said, . . ". It would be a great book if you were doing a lesson on speech bubbles, Great book for putting kids at ease when entering K, I didnt like the small print word bubbles though for reading to a preK child, Ease of reading was not great, Meet almostkindergarten, Dexter, as he talks his way to being ready to begin his adventure in elementary school, His third grade sister, Jess, is there to remind him that he'll be fine, as he laments that his stuffed dog, Rufus might be scared or might get lost.
Dexter begins his first day of kindergarten with Rufus and begins to realize that kindergarten is a pretty cool place to be as he describes all of the day's events and highlights, that is, until Rufus is lost.
Jess helps Dexter to backtrack to all of the places he's been and Dexter finally locates his beloved dog and decides that tomorrow the dog will stay at home.
Dexter will help new kindergarteners feel at ease as he reassures himself that kindergarten is a safe and even fun place to spend his days.
This is book is about Dexter Dugan who thinks he knows all the ropes of Kindergarten, His sister tells and shows him the fun parts of Kindergarten, She also gives him a stuffed dog to help with his fears, The artist does a nice job with the illustrations to make them match what the text is saying, This would be a great book for a child who will be entering Kindergarten to let them know how fun it will be,
Books of this type can be useful to mentally prepare young kids for school, and even when your child is already of age she may enjoy the reassurance she gets from a book that mirrors her experience.
The pictures in this book are somewhat engaging, they're done in crayons which is sort of a clever choice for a book about kindergarten, right And many of the drawings are kind of childlike, such as the houses, which is fun.
But after the first observations I started finding the book only moderately inspired, or even useful, For instance, how realistic is it that a kindergartner on his first day will get escorted by his second grader sister only, to a school he's never visited before And, isn't that sort of a thing of the past that kindergartners have an imagination dressup station in their classroom, that they get to play with blocks, or playdoh, or make food It seems to me that art class is not exactly a given in elementary school nowadays, nor is necessarily the library, or a music room, or a gym, these are things that some better off schools may be provide, but far from most.
Oh, and by the way, I'm sure you're not allowed to keep the library books "practically forever"! And in my kindergartner's class, if you touch your friends during circle time, like Dexter and his class mates are doing in the pictures, you're in big trouble.
Also, I don't think the custodians are wiping up spills for you with a smile on their face, My five year old once dropped his sandwich on the ground when someone bumped into him at school and the custodian sent him to the principal's office claiming he must have done it on purpose.
So, kindergarten is great, but let's keep it real and don't give our kids the wrong ideas, And no, you can not bring your toys to school, even not your stuffed animals! Texttoself connection
Kindergarten Rocks!! Yes thats what I was told when I was young too.
This book is about Dex and his first day of kindergarten, He had anxiety but a lot of excitement, I was nervous about my first day of kindergarten, I remember it like it was yesterday, I cried like a baby the first day when my mom left me, My experience and memories from kindergarten was overall great, I remember my teacher and all the great things she taught me, My first day was kinda like Dex except I didnt take a friend along with me to school, Learning new things and meeting knew people was the best part about kindergarten to me, After opening up and talking you will start to feel like you are not as alone as you thought you were, By the end of my first day I was over filled with joy, I had made new friends, learned new things, and even loved my teacher, Kindergarten was great. Cant wait to tell my children in my classroom about my first of kindergarten and even share stories, This is a wonderful book featuring Dexter, a soontobe kindergartener, who really, really, is not scared to go, Really. Honestly. It's just that, well, his stuffed dog, Rufus, is scared, This book takes the reader through the process of Dexter's I mean Rufus's! anxiety and how it is resolved, PreK children will see themselves in Dexter's eyes, lessening their anxiety while acknowledging that is okay to be afraid, Hopefully it will do the same for a parent's anxiety as well! The illustrations are realistic and funny, This one should be on every PreK shelf,
CIP Summary:
Dexter knows everything there is to know about kindergarten and is not at all scared about his first day there, but his stuffed dog, Rufus, is very nervous.
Hornbook Guide:
Dexter says he isn't scared about starting kindergartenit's his stuffed dog Rufus who's the nervous one, Dexter's older sister understands and reassures Dexter that he's going to have a great time, Humorous art resembling kids' crayon drawings matches the topic and tone in this comforting book that answers everything prekindergartners want to know but might be afraid to ask.
School Library Journal:
A succession of cartoon illustrations and speech bubbles follows the largeeyed child through his first day of school.
A gentle, humorous read to calm the anxiety of younger students, Good readaloud for children approaching the uncertainty of kindergarten, This book is easy to read, my almostyear old read this book by himself with barely any help, Dex, the main character in the story, is very relatable to future kindergartners, He tried to be brave and to a point can put on an act of being brave, With the help of his older sister reassuring him and telling him what to expect, he goes to school, Everything seems to go wrong on his first day, but everything soon gets resolved and Dex can't wait for tomorrow, In the end Dex ends up worrying that he won't get to go again,
This story was cute and funny, My soontobe kindergartner laughed out loud!
sitelink com/kindergarten Dexter goes to kindergarten with his trusty stuffed dog, Rufus, Somewhere around a levelreading level book that myyr old loves, He's going to charter school public school online but he's in class at church and can relate to the mentality, He knows he'd be bored if he'd go to a regular school and even told me he doesn't want to go, yet still loves to read this book.
A great addition to our collection, If you know any kids entering kindergarten, .
I definitely recommend this as one, Ugh.
A book that will induce fear in kids who aren't afraid of going to school, and may soothe fears of those kids that have formed fear thanks in part to books like these I'm sure, and TV that gives kids the idea that fear is the emotion that is associated with doing something new.
If we would stop introducing kids to reasons to fear things, then we wouldn't need these types of books,
Here's how it works:
Watch the movie Monsters with your kids, Even though that child had never thought about there being monsters in their room, they do now because the movie shows that most children are afraid of monsters in the closet or under their bed.
This is a learned fear, That child would never have come up with the CONCEPT of monsters unless they were introduced to it,
We typically create the fear just by reading to a child that they shouldn't have the fear, Dexter is ready for kindergarten, Sort of. Well, actually, he's maybe kind of a little bit scared, perhaps even terrified, one might say, Because what if he gets lost Or, what if the teacher is mean Or, he misses his mom or dad Or, worst of all, he loses his most important ally, Rufus
With the same warmth, exuberance, and sly wit that have made her a favorite of booksellers and children, Katie Davis tackles a problem every kidand parenthas to face sooner or later: firstday fears.
And she shows that it's okay to be scared, but that, as Dexter's older sister Jessie says, "Kindergarten rocks!"
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