Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? by Audrey Vernick & Daniel Jennewein

Your buffalo is growing up. He plays with friends. He shares his toys. He's smart! But is he ready for kindergarten? (And is kindergarten ready for him?) 

I don't often review picture books on my blog. I frequently check them out and read them at the library, but a picture book has to be phenomenal for me to review it since I read so many during the course of a year. 

You'd think given the fact that I teach sixth grade that this book would be completely off my radar. What, after all, do sixth graders care about being ready for kindergarten? Frankly, the subject is of little importance to them. A funny story is a funny story. And to twelve-year-olds, this book was hilarious. In fact, they were laughing before I even started reading. One look at the cover and I had a group of boys who just started laughing until there were tears in their eyes.

As I read this book through the first time, I couldn't help but have a soundtrack playing in my head as the story unfolded. I realized that when I read the book to my class that I would play "Dance of the Hours" (AKA the melody to "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah") in the background. I highly encourage you to do the same. It gives a hilarious book an even more hysterical ambiance.

So the story was hilarious, the illustrations were endearing and in the same vein as the brilliant Mo Willems, plus I had a group of laughing, smiling sixth graders who begged me to read it to them again. So you see, don't let the title fool you into thinking this book is just for little kids. Big kids like it too.


Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? by Audrey Vernick
Illustrated by Daniel Jennewein
Published: July 2010 by Balzer + Bray
Pages: 32
Genre: Picture book
Audience: Primary