Oxford University Press ISBN 9780192768520 £6.99
Puddle is a duckling who cannot wait to start nursery school and watches enviously as the older ducklings set off each morning with their important-looking backpacks – until the time comes for him to join them. The night before his first day, he suddenly gets cold feet and decides that he definitely can wait – until he is a very old duck. However, he is propelled towards the inevitable and we follow him through his first day. He finds a feather to remind him of his mother, she has packed his favourite lunch, and this paragon of virtue has also remembered his ‘cuddly’ for the post-prandial nap. There are a number of books on the market that serve a similar purpose, but this is a welcome addition, highlighting as it does the worries that many small children experience before ‘the big day’ and gently reassuring them that all will be well. It might also serve, through the narrative, to suggest strategies parents might adopt, but in case they are too subtle, there is a list at the end. A text that might also be a useful discussion starter for the nursery classroom to encourage pupils to talk about their own feelings.
Elizabeth Broad, former Head of Primary ITT, University of Roehampton and UKLA National Council