What George Forgot is one that pre-K kids will not

 

Sometimes it’s tricky to forecast what books your children will enjoy. When we received What George Forgot , a children’s book by Kathy Wolff I didn’t think that our 5 year old would be interested in it. However, he sauntered over to my desk and grabbed that book for us to read to him. That is worth noting because he never does that and usually relies on his staple books beside his bed. Yet, that night (and many times since then) he’s chosen What George Forgot as his good-night book.

What George Forgot is the story of a young boy (about 5 years old) who wakes up in the morning and is convinced that he forgot something, but can’t figure out what it could be. He goes through all of the basic things like waking up mom with a running bear hug, tickling dad’s feet, eating breakfast and brushing his teeth. But it’s almost time to catch the bus for school and George still is thinking that he’s forgotten something.

Young readers will recognize what George has forgotten and laugh to themselves. They’ll hold their breath as they turn the page, just in case George remembers to do this thing before he leaves the house. Side note: I love it when kids can so completely lose themselves in a book that they’ll squirm, laugh and wiggle their bodies in a way to channel the character to not repeat the action that they know they’ll end up doing again.

You’ve read The Monster at The End of this Book, starring furry, lovable Grover, haven’t you? Every child that we’ve read that book to has the same reaction. It’s happy, nervous energy where the kids don’t want to turn the page, but also want to turn the page NOW.

What George Forgot has that same vibe, but it’s more playful and less suspenseful. Even after having the book read to him dozens of times our son was grinning and saying that he has a secret. Kids younger than 5 will enjoy the book as much also because it moves at a very brisk pace, has lots of fun, animated illustrations by Richard Byrne and adheres to the qualities that great good-night books must have.

A great good-night book needs to have a variety of colored pages, big-happy illustrations and text that rhymes or makes it succinct enough to re-read more than once. What George Forgot does that and also went into the ‘sight words’ category that our 5 year old is currently enjoying.

Books like this are fun for kids through 6 years old because they’re a puzzle that also teaches a lesson. They’ll learn the basics of how to start the day, manners and do it all with a laugh and that’s a rare thing for a book to do.