Teaching Mrs. Muddle
Author: Colleen Nelson
Illustrator: Alice Carter
Pajama Press
Ages 4-8
It’s the first day of kindergarten and Kayla is not sure she’s ready.
As any parent who has dropped off a child to school for the first time knows, everyone’s nerves are frayed!
It’s the first day of kindergarten and Kayla is not sure she’s ready. Mrs Muddle, who has already lived up to her name whispers assurances to the parents as they say goodbye. Even though it seems daunting, and even though her mom seems hesitant, Kayla notices Mrs Muddle making another big mistake and she know she must help her teacher!
“Inside the classroom, Mrs. Muddle was reading my favorite book, the one I knew by heart. She was making all kinds of mistakes. I gave Mom my best brave face and went to help Mrs. Muddle read the book properly.”
All through the book, Mrs. Muddle keeps muddling, and Kayla steps up leading the entire class, including her teacher, through the day, her jitters all but forgotten.
As Kayla exclaims, “Even on my first day, I didn’t think I’d get more lost than Mrs. Muddle!”
The whole day passes and Kayla realizes that her anxiety is all gone. She didn’t even have time to miss her mom!
The book really comes to life through Carter’s extremely detailed illustrations. The cast of students and teachers featured are diverse and appealing. Carter captures the expressions of all the characters in a way that will delight kids.
If you’ve been around kids, you know they love when adults are being silly, and they love to help. I do wish the author had featured more kids helping the teacher out, or maybe not reinforced the female kindergarten teacher vs male gym teacher stereotypes, but overall i thought this was a fantastic book to ease first day jitters for both children and adults!
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My thanks to Pajama Press for providing a Review Copy of this book. All opinions provided herein are my own.
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