Preschool Day Hooray! by Linda Leopold Strauss, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata

This friendly, bouncy book offers a glimpse at a preschool day that is perfect for children heading to preschool for the first time.  The book follows the course of a day in preschool.  It begins at the breakfast table, moves through arrival and drop off, crafts and playground play, snack and naptime, dancing and toys, to parents picking up the children.  Strauss’ verse is just right for small children with a happy cadence that is easy to read aloud. 

Nakata’s illustrations add to the friendly appeal of the book with their rosy-cheeked children who are often doing their own thing rather than acting as a group.  The illustrations are very child-focused and reveal the mess and exploration of preschool. 

My only issue in the book, which is filled with children of different colors, is that at the end of the book only Mommy is mentioned as picking children up after school even though the illustrations also show a father.  I’d rather have had Mommy changed to parents in the verse to show that Daddy is just as involved.

A very positive view of preschool, get this into the hands of new preschoolers!  It is printed on heavy pages with a sturdy binding, ideal for little eager hands.  Appropriate for ages 1-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Scholastic.