Adam's Daycare

I bought this book for my child when she turned two and started daycare. This is a sweet book that starts with Adams mother dropping him off at daycare and takes you through all of the activities of the day and ends with the kids getting picked up one by one and Adam waiting patiently at the window for his mother who gives him a big hug when she arrives. The illustrations are beautiful and the writing is simple and poetic. It's a quiet slow paced read so it's perfect as a bedtime story. It really helped to reinforce that there a games and friends at daycare and that parents always come back.

This is a beautiful book, both for the illustrations and for the sentiments that are portrayed: a loving home, which just happens to offer daycare to some darling children. There are concerned, thoughtful parents (who spend time at drop-of and pick-up connecting with their children) and a woman who has all the right ideas about how to be with those children. There is just enough messiness at Ina's house to make everyone feel comfortable: a dog who wanders around, children's naps starting in Ina's lap, the opportunity to go out in the rain to mail some letters (and incidentally spash in puddles), free play in the yard, and a special birthday celebration for one of the children. But for me, the best part of the book is a comment that Ina makes about Adam when he spontaneously shares a cupcake: "...Adam has a good heart...". I heard my grand-daughter show her understanding of this (the essential nature of children) when she repeated it about her own brother a week or so later after he had showed a kindness. This is the best kind of learning. It is a great book to read to any child (2 1/2 years and up), showing a loving, caring adult, regardless of whether they are familiar with daycare.