The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten. Maureen Fergus. Illustrated by Mike Lowery. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2013. 32 pp., hardcover, $18.95. ISBN 978-1-55453-698-6. Preschool-grade 2 / Ages 3-7. Review by Inderjit Deogun. *** /4

excerpt:

But I guess she forgot her promise because she walked right into the classroom without even taking off her outdoor shoes. My teacher, Ms. Beaudry, was nice about it. I was SHOCKED. Who did Mom think was going to clean up the muddy footprints she’d made on Ms. Beaudry’s nice clean floor?

“Mom,” I whispered, as we settled onto the carpet for our Letter of the Day activity, “school is nicer for everybody if you try to be considerate of others.”

She promised she would make an effort.

A young girl likes kindergarten and has “from the very 1st day.” Why wouldn’t she? Since it’s “better than a dinosaur museum, a circus and a super-duper mega-three-scooper ice-cream sundae.” But when she realizes that her mom is “a little SAD that [she is] growing up and starting to have adventures” on her own, the young girl invites her mom to spend the day in kindergarten.

     The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten, by Maureen Fergus and Mike Lowery, is a charming picture book that explores what happens when parent-child roles are reversed. With Mom stepping foot into new territory, it’s up to the young girl to guide her mother in the do’s and don’ts of kindergarten. The young girl’s tone throughout the teaching process is soft with brilliant touches of indignation that both parent and child readers will appreciate. Though the vocabulary is advanced at times, it presents parents with the opportunity to expand their little readers’ word stock. The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten puts a refreshing spin on the parent-child relationship and doesn’t miss the chance to make it clear that even “kindergarten is HARD WORK!”

Recommended.

Inderjit Deogun is writer in Toronto, ON.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

Hosted by the University of Manitoba.

 

NEXT REVIEW | TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - April 26, 2013.

AUTHORS | TITLES | MEDIA REVIEWS | PROFILES | BACK ISSUES | SEARCH | CMARCHIVE | HOME