The King of Kindergarten

Starred review from June 24, 2019
When a mother gives her son the titular nickname, it inspires him throughout his first day of school—the child imagines that a chalk-drawn crown is sitting on his head as he walks through the “towering doors” of the “grand fortress” and into his “Kindergarten Kingdom.” It’s a day filled with new friends, “a royal rest” (nap time), and acts of noblesse oblige (the boy shares an extra pudding cup with a dessert-less classmate). And when the teacher goes through all the classroom rules and the work ahead, Barnes (Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut) writes, “It sounds like a lot, but you’re the King of Kindergarten. Piece. Of. Cake.” Affirming text and energizing drawings by Brantley-Newton (Grandma’s Purse), which skillfully balance bright colors, patterns, and textures, should put a spring in the step of any reluctant kindergartner: who wouldn’t want to be thought of as “the charming, the wonderful and the kind” class sovereign? Ages 3–6.

Narrator Sullivan Jones captures the playfulness of this story, the poetry of its rhythms, and the emotions of its characters. The author of this audiobook proves himself the king of metaphors as he describes the joy and confidence of a boy on his first day of kindergarten. There's a sadness in the mother whose "baby is going to school" and a wistfulness in the father who sees his boy growing up so quickly. Most important is the confidence they have instilled in their "king of kindergarten." Once the boy is at school, Jones shows both his cheerfulness and fleeting moments of feeling overwhelmed, along with his experiences of sharing with friends and joy at knowing he has stories to take home to his parents. S.W. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine