The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

McGhee, Alison

Countdown to Kindergarten

32 pp. | Harcourt/Silver Whistle | August, 2002 | Trade ISBN 0-15-202516-2 $$16.00

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Harry Bliss. A girl approaches kindergarten with trepidation because she can't tie her own shoes (she has heard that knowing how is Rule #1). She spends ten days alternately hiding her shoelaces and practicing "loop, pull around, poke, and pull." The girl's true-to-childhood obsession is humorously played out in bold, cartoonlike illustrations; thought and dialogue balloons effectively augment the first-person narration.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano