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 educator and storyteller whose The Kissing Hand — famously inspired by watching a mother raccoon nuzzle her kit's palm at a nature center — has comforted first-day jitters for three decades and 7 million copies.
Penn developed her stories in hospital wards and classrooms as a visiting storyteller; The Kissing Hand was rejected widely before a small child-welfare press took it, and word of mouth from teachers did the rest.
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.