We are always looking for new chapter books that are age appropriate. Whether series or stand-alone, it is a challenge to find ones that we like and then sometimes it is really difficult for me to get a chance to read them and make a decision on whether the books are decent. I have to start writing down where I find books, but this is a series that J has started to enjoy.
In Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade, Posey is about to start the first grade and she is feeling a bit nervous. Between the fact that all parents are supposed to “kiss and go” from the drop-off line and the fact that the two boys who live next door have told her that there is a monster in the blue hall where the first grade classes are, Posey just wants to stay home. If only she could wear her beloved ballet tutu to school, then she could be brave. When her grandfather takes her out for ice cream, they happen to run into her new teacher, Ms. Lee. Ms. Lee admires Posey’s pink tutu and shows her the very worn out pink snearkers that she is wearing. Ms. Lee says how she knows that it would be great to be able to wear our favorite things to school, but that sometimes we can’t. Posey innocently asks why not. The next day, all fo the incoming first graders receive an invitation for the first grade parade. Rather than walking into school on their own all of the incoming first graders can wear whatever they want to and will meet at the front of the school to parade in together.
The story itself is very sweet and realistic about fears that a kid might have before the first day of school. J had a lot of fun with this book, although I worry that it actually might have caused some of her fears instead of alleviating them. She started school last week and actually was quite nervous on the first day, which seemed odd since her closest friends were all in her class this year.
One of the only things that I had problems with was that because kindergarten is the new first grade, I felt like we had already gone through these issues. It is a minor point, it just felt a tad bit younger than first grade. Even with that, Posey seems like a normal kid with normal fears. Her family doesn’t fuss and fawn over them and they help her get through them.
In the second book, which J read and I admit I didn’t, Posey wants to get a dog when one of her friends gets one, even if she is actually a bit scared of them. When a large, loud dog moves in next door, she calls on her pink tutu to help her be brave.
These books are a refreshing change from those that try to make girls grow up to quickly and also from the non-stop fairy action that has inundated my house with Rainbow Magic and Candy Fairies – both of which are decent series, I just like to see my daughter read something different. I would highly recommend these books for young readers grades K-2.