Title:
Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner
Author: Amy Schwartz
Illustrator: Amy
Schwartz
Publisher:
Orchard Books
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Level: Primary
Number of Pages: 28
Pub. Date: 1988
Summary:
Annabelle Swift is a character who is getting ready for her
first day of kindergartener. Her sister gives her some bad advice, like the
fact that ‘red’ is actually ‘Raving Scarlet’ like her mother’s lipstick color,
and we find out that she loves to count. She goes off to face that exciting,
terrifying first day of school. Like many kindergarteners, she feels that the
whole day is going wrong. All the advice her sister gave her causes her
embarrassment. It is only when she is able to use her strong counting skills
that the day begins to look better. She is able to count all of the milk money
on the first day of school, giving her the special job of Milk Monitor, which
she completes proudly.
Critique: This work of realistic
fiction fits in as a school and family story. It shows the relationship between
Lucy and Annabelle, but also focuses on Annabelle’s first day of school. It’s
about Annabelle finding out who she is as a Kindergarten student and showcases
her struggle for peer acceptance when she’s embarrassed when all of the
children except one laugh at her. The author writes so that the reader feels empathy
for Annabelle and engages readers so that they care about how Annabelle’s day
goes. The characters are realistic and the setting of a kindergarten classroom
is something that many children either will experience or have experienced. The
character of her know-it-all sister is given just the right amount of sassiness
as an older sibling trying to impress everyone by making her little sister
smart and Mr. Blum, the kindergarten teacher, also comes across as believable. Through
realistic fiction, this story encourages children to focus on their strengths
when facing the challenges of the first day of school.
Response: The author of the book
tells me that Annabelle is all by herself on the beanbags with everyone else
looking at her. It makes me sad that she is all by herself and makes me think
that maybe her kindergarten day isn’t going to go so well. I predict that this
will be a good book to read to Preschoolers who may be nervous about going
into Kindergarten.
Assignment:
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITY
Math:
Luscious Lollipops
Divide the
class into groups of three. Give each group a bag of lollipops (with various
colors). Have the children count to see how many of each color lollipop are in
the bag. Next, have each group report their findings to form a class chart. Use
the chart to answer various questions (Which color has the most lollipops? The
Fewest? What's the difference between these two numbers? How many lollipops all
together?,etc.)