Honk, honk! Very soon that big yellow school bus will be rounding the corner in your neighborhood. The youngest of the bus riders, the kindergarteners, will anxiously be waiting at their stop — with emphasis on the word “anxious.” What can parents do to ease anxiety and get kids ready for this big day? The answer can be found in many good books that will help ease anxiety and demonstrate that learning and school can be fun.

Picture Books — In Welcome to Kindergarten by Anne Rockwell, a little boy and his mom visit the classroom where he will attend kindergarten in the fall. He is reassured by discovering that the school has interesting activity centers and that it doesn’t look too big anymore. Kindergarten ABC by Jacqueline Rogers not only presents the ABCs — so important for kindergarteners — but also takes the reader through all the fun activities that fill a kindergartener’s day using playful and action-packed illustrations as a backdrop.

Non-fiction and Beginning Readers — In Starting School by Janet and Allan Ahlberg we meet the new teacher, and many new friends, while visiting the block table and the dress-up table. Any pre-kindergarten jitters will disappear after reading this book. Full-page spread illustrations share the stage with the important message in Wash, Scrub, Brush! by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom. Children engaged in washing and scrubbing from head to toe and brushing their teeth and hair are pictured with animals that are doing the same thing. In Pinky Dinky Doo: Back to School is Cool by Jim Jinkins, older sister Pinky Dinky Doo helps relieve her little brother’s nervousness about his first day of school by telling him about the time she had a bad hair day when school pictures were taken.

Children do not need to know how to read before they start kindergarten — they will learn that when they get there. But there are many skills that they need to practice in order to get ready for kindergarten. The Fairfield Public Library website has a checklist that gives developmental milestones for any preschooler. Find out if your child is ready by clicking on: www.fairfieldpubliclibrary.org/ child-countdown-ready.htm.  Along with the checklist on the Fairfield Library website, parents can also find many good books to read that will help them prepare their child for kindergarten. All of the following books can be found in the Fairfield Children’s Library “Kiwanis Parent- Teacher Room.”

Books for Parents — In The Ready-to-Read, Ready-to-Count Handbook: How to Best Prepare Your Child for School, author Teresa Savage incorporates the latest research on school-readiness. She details specific games that parents can play with their child to teach the concepts of counting, colors and alphabet letters. Kindergarten Success: Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Child Learn by Amy James includes hundreds of easy-to-do activities that are designed to help children meet specific learning requirements. The author also describes the developmental and social changes expected of kindergarteners. Making the Grade: Everything Your Kindergartener Needs to Know by Daniel A. Van Beek offers tools and strategies for hands on active learning. Information and activities are also included for parents who are home-schooling their child.

Library programs can help even the youngest child build skill sets that will guarantee success in kindergarten. The Fairfield Public Library Children’s Department offers a variety of programs that are free and designed specifically for preschoolers. Even infants will expand their world by participating in library programs. Here is a sampling of some of the upcoming fall programs for preschoolers and school-aged children at the Fairfield Public Library:

• Parents and babies (0-24 months): Mother Goose on the Loose, Born to Read, Toddler Time, Nursery Rhyme Time
• Parents and twos: Terrific Twos
• Kids age three: Just Me! At Three
• Fours and fives: Preschool Story Hour
• Dads and kids ages three to five: Mad About Dad
• Parents and kids ages two to six: Pajama Story Time
• Parents and kids ages six to nine: Book Voyagers
• Kids ages 8-13: Book Worms
• Moms and daughters ages 8-11: Good Books We Share

For dates and times or more information about these programs, or about our books and materials for kindergarten, call the Children’s Library at 203-256-3161 or the Fairfield Woods location at 203-255-7327. You may also visit our website: www.fairfieldpubliclibrary.org (click on “Children’s Library”).

The Fairfield Public Library is located at 1080 Old Post Road in Fairfield. The Fairfield Woods Branch is located at 1147 Fairfield Woods Road in Fairfield.