The Kissing Hand
A teacher’s look at why this book belongs in the The Why-Askers stage.
Why it fits The Why-Askers (for preschoolers whose every page sparks a question)
Chester Raccoon carries his mother's kiss in his palm through the first day of school. It equips families with a portable ritual for hard goodbyes. A first-day-of-school institution for good reason.
What makes it special
It hands families an actual tool: a kiss pressed into the palm, redeemable at will, all day. The classic woodland paintings make Chester's school-in-a-tree feel safe rather than saccharine. Generations of teachers keep tissues nearby for this one on the first day — because it works.
From the publisher
When Chester the raccoon is reluctant to go to kindergarten for the first time, his mother teaches him a secret way to carry her love with…
About Audrey Penn
Audrey Penn is an author, lecturer, and educator who has been visiting schools in the Washington, D.C. area since 1982. Her book The Kissing Hand, first published in 1993 by the Child Welfare League of America, is widely used at the start of the school year and in other moments when a child has to separate from a parent.
Penn says the idea came from an encounter in a local park with an unusually large mother raccoon and her newborn cub, and that she developed it into a book after her own daughter went off to kindergarten.
Also by this author: A Pocket Full of Kisses · Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully
More from “Big Feelings, First Friendships”
This book is part of The Best Books for Preschoolers: 30 Teacher Picks (The Why-Askers) in our guide The Best Children’s Books by Age — 120 books chosen by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX. Come see how we build readers →
Nobody paid for this review — not the author, not the publisher — and the store link above earns us nothing. Our only interest is the reader this book fits.