Now is the time to pull out all those new books for introducing the kiddos to school. While it is true that in our family we homeschool, Twindergarten is still an adorable read with lots of good messages within. This would make a great open house book or gift for a new Kinder or 1st grade student that is heading off to school or a different environment for the first time. Twindergarten is an attractively illustrated short story picture book about a pair of boy/girl twins as they head off to school and to different classes for the first time in their lives to be separated from each other. It is new, exciting, terrifying, and awesome. There is some repetition in the text and it is a fairly easy read. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one.

This review was originally posted on Creative Madness Mama ( )

Twins, Zoey and Dax, had to separate for their first day of Kindergarten. They were both afraid and nervous to be without one another. They both had a positive outlook about their first day and helped each other survive the day by drawing pictures for one another and playing together at recess. This book radiated with positivity from the twins, the teachers, and the pictures. Zoey and Dax both had to step out of their comfort zone and have trust in each other that their first day was going to be "absolutely, positivity, fantastic" as the twins would say. It was not easy for Zoey at first because she was even on the verge of tears during the day. However, they both used the power of kindness to draw pictures for each other and use the pictures as motivation to make it through the day without each other. This book really brought me joy and peace in my heart about Zoey and Dax's first day of school. It was beautiful to witness the growth of Zoey and Dax awaiting their first day of school with fear, anxiety, and nervousness, and watching them leave the first day of school with happiness, comfort, and peace. I hope to make my students as comfortable for their first day of school as the teachers in this book did for Zoey and Dax. ( )

I like this book because perfectly describes what most Kindergartners are feeling as they enter their first day of Kindergarten, away from their loved ones. The two main characters, Dax and Zoe, are twins and for the first time in their lives, they were separated into different classrooms. This provided some insight into what a lot of siblings or Kindergartners struggle with: being separated from their loved ones for the first time. ( )

Twin siblings Dax and Zoe approach their first day of kindergarten with trepidation in this engaging picture-book debut from author Nikki Ehrlich and illustrator Zoey Abbott. Not only do they have the regular first-day-of-school jitters, but they must also contend with being separated for the first time in their lives. Will they adjust, and discover that school can be a wonderful experience...?

I enjoyed Twindergarten, which approaches a common childhood experience - namely, the separation anxiety that young people sometimes experience when first going to school - from an uncommon perspective. I'd never really considered the fact that twins might feel even more distraught than other children at this time, as they are being parted, not just from the comfort of their parents, but also from their constant companion and other half. Ehrlich captures her twin characters' anxiety, and their gradual conversion to a more positive attitude, quite well in her story. The artwork by Abbott is colorful and engaging, ably capturing Dax and Zoe's changing emotional state, and depicting their life as part of a happy mixed-raced family. Recommended to anyone looking for new "back-to-school" stories and/or stories featuring twins. ( )