Get a Kick-Start on Kindergarten

August will be a BIG month at the house of Midwestern Mommy. In four short months, "the boy" will be skipping off to Kindergarten. He can't wait to go. (I plan to celebrate the day by doing a little happy dance. But I'll likely cry my fool head off.)

While Seth is ready socially and emotionally, I wasn't sure if he was academically. That is, until I was sent a cool little book called Let's Get Ready For Kindergarten by educator/mom Stacey Kannenberg.

Let's Get Ready for Kindergarten touches on everything from letter and number identification to learning to tell time and identifying the seasons. The book is a great tool for gauging your preschooler's strong and weak points -- something most moms really appreciate.

What I liked:

The pages are brightly colored and visually appeal to kids. Seth dove into the book right away and got quite a kick out of "Mrs. Good and the Cedar Valley Kids". Lately, we've been using the book at night before bed. We curl up and go through a few pages. Its a good way to get him to sit and slow his little boy body down. But he's not the only one who's a big fan.

At one point, I introduced the book during one of Seth's playdates. It was a big hit with that child as well. In fact, Seth and his friend fought over the book!

Also, one of the coolest features of the book is that kids can use dry erase markers to practice writing their letters, numbers and contact information. And when you wipe the marker stuff off, it actually comes off! YEAY! Oh and if your child has sticky, dirty, chocolatey fingers? That stuff comes off too.

What I didn't like:

Unfortunately the pages rip easily. The pages aren't fragile but I thought they'd be a bit more durable.

This book is perfect for:

This is a great book to have on hand this summer. Are you going on a summer vacation? Take the book with you in the car or on the flight. Do you have time to kill in between your children's sporting events? Here's something to do. Its also a great book for grandparents and daycare providers to keep on hand.

And when your kindergartner graduates, there's a Let's Get Ready For First Grade edition as well.

TO WIN COPIES OF BOTH BOOKS GO TO http://www.parentbloggers.com/. Post a comment (on the entry about this product) as to why you'd like these books. A winner will be picked once the campaign is finished.

This review was written for The Parent Bloggers Network. If you have a product you'd like PBN to review, click on this link for more info.