Review by Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 2. While Miss B's students are departing kindergarten (see Joseph Slate's Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the Last Day of Kindergarten0 , on p.105), Kroll's little bear is just beginning the school experience. A double-page spread for each year uses pictures and rhyming text to depict the bear's milestones from birth ("When you were a NEWBORN, you ate, burped, and cried"), until he is finally ready for kindergarten ("You're teaching your best friend the ABC song. / You put back your building blocks where they belong"). The second-person voice personalizes the story, and the soft-edged artwork conveys a cozy charm, with a little gray mouse boosting the toddler's confidence in each scene. The last spread, which opens vertically, shows the bear standing by a growth chart, imagining the adventures awaiting him as the narrator declares, "'Cause now you are FIVE and a baby no more!" Expect requests for reading again. --Julie Cummins Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-This book starts when Bear is a newborn. A page of rhyming couplets describes each year until "NOW," the age of five, when the number of things the cub can do expands exponentially. Beginning with milestones such as riding a tricycle at age three or blowing bubbles at four, the list highlighting the child's growing independence and abilities quickly expands to include singing the ABCs, helping carry groceries, and putting on puppet shows. Most of the book is spent on these five-year-old skills, leading up to the first day of kindergarten, when readers turn the final page sideways to see a tall exuberant Bear, "a baby no more!!!!!" Whereas readers may not do all of the things this highly capable youngster can do, they will certainly identify with the joy and pride, evident on every page, that are a part of accomplishing something new. And with so many milestones included, most readers are bound to recognize themselves in some achievement. This sense of belonging is amplified by the friendly, cheerful art done in bright pastels. Bear is visibly happy, engaged, and supported by family and friends. A sidekick mouse in a ruffled orange dress lends added interest. This is a fun, celebratory story for any child just waiting to go to school.-Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
This cute-as-a-button cub has achieved a lot on his way to kindergarten. Not, as the title seems to indicate, on a meandering walk to the schoolyard, but rather over the five years leading up to his exciting entre. From newborn forward, the snappy, rhyming text extols milestones such as, to start with, burping and crying. But at one year the cub is pulling himself up and trying to eat ants. Later he's learning to pedal a tricycle, drawing, brushing his own teeth, singing the ABC song and dancing along, buckling his own seat belt and paddling the length of the pool. Careful observers will watch for the cub's unmentioned mouse pal on every page. The oil pastels give vibrancy and soft lines to the action populated by an array of adorable young animals. The simple buoyancy of the text will help create positive anticipation for starting school. For toddlers, each of the cub's successes is something to aim for, and older kids can applaud how far they have come themselves. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
