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My Weird School Daze #1: Mrs. Dole Is Out of Control!

Dan Gutman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Mrs. Dole is Out of Control 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

My sons love the Dan Gutman Weird School Books and they weren't disappointed with the new "Daze" series. They both read the book twice. As per my eldest, "This book is just as funny as the rest."

Continued Weirdness 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
on 07/15/2008

It's the end of the school year, and Mrs. Daisy's class is going to "graduate" to third grade. A.J. and the class just found out that Ryan's mom, Mrs. Dole, is the new PTA president, and she has big plans for the celebration. Did you know you can Rent-A-Anything, even Blue Angels?!

MRS. DOLE IS OUT OF CONTROL is the first installment of the "My Weird School Daze" series, which follows the 21-book "My Weird School" series. The story is told from the point of view of A.J., a rambunctious boy who has a lot in common with Dennis the Menace.

The writing is on a young boy's level, but some parents may not appreciate the occasional name calling and A.J.'s attitude. A.J. isn't a great example of how to behave. On the other hand, a lot of A.J.'s perspective is typical of the average elementary-school boy. The best way to get someone interested in reading is to give them a book that speaks to them. Chances are, this book will relate to boys everywhere.

Editorial Review:

A.J. and the gang are graduating! But the out-of-control PTA president is turning the whole thing into a huge ceremony complete with fireworks, a petting zoo, and a flyover by the Blue Angels! Is moving up to third grade such a big deal? And what could possibly go wrong?

My Side of the Mountain Trilogy (My Side of the Mountain / On the Far Side of the Mountain / Frightful's Mountain)

Jean Craighead George

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

bonding book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

What a great trilogy. I have been reading this to my nine year old son who is obsessed with survivor and surviVAL. The vocabulary is alittle over his head (and mine). I find myself reading with a dictionary next to us. We now do falcon cries to each other around the house:) We have been reading well past his bedtime. Recommended to readers 8-108 years old!

OKay 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I think this book would not be good for young children because they might try to be like Sam and run away from home. Besides that it was a very good book and I liked it a lot. I thought that Sam was a very inspiring character, and if someone did try to live off the land they might learn a lot from that book that would be helpful.I would not mind reading that book again at all because it was so good.

Editorial Review:

In 1959, Jean Craighead George published My Side of the Mountain. This coming-of-age story about a boy and his falcon went on to win a Newbery Honor, and for the past forty years has enthralled and entertained generations of would-be Sam Gribleys. The two books that followed--On the Far Side of the Mountain and Frightful's Mountain--were equally extraordinary. Now all three books are available in one deluxe yet affordable volume for veteran devotees and brand-new fans alike.

M Is for Magic

Neil Gaiman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

M is for Morbid 2 out of 5 stars.
7 of 15 people found this review helpful.

This small anthology contains 10 short stories and one bad poem. It clearly presents itself as a children's book (for "ages 10 and up" according to the flap), and many of the stories were apparently selected for elements that many superficially associate with Children's Literature, such as child protagonists, a sentient toy, a heroic animal, a mythical creature or some nursery rhyme references.

However, the pretence that this is a Children's Book is a cynical marketing deception. With the possible exception of "The Witch's Headstone", none of the stories here were originally written for children, nor have any been substantially altered for that audience. I did notice that at least one story ("Troll Bridge"), had received some very minor editing to remove some of the more blatant adult language and references (which in no way detracts from the tale anything of value, IMHO), but it remains a highly adult-themed (and disturbing) tale.

But the most inappropriate thing about this book is its promotion of suicidal ideas. The worst offender is "October in the Chair," which starts with a boy running away from home, and ends with his decision to throw away his life in pursuit of the sanctuary of the graveyard. This could be read as a horror story - and I suppose a healthy child would indeed be horrified by it. But it does not read as horror. It reads as a dark fantasy -- an advertisement for child suicide.

Suicidal themes are further explored in "Troll Bridge," which is not quite so bad as "October..." in that it at least suggests that a child might want to wait until he has some experience of life - which mainly means experience of sex - before he ultimately and inevitably decides to throw away his worthless life.

"Witch's Headstone," the last story in the volume, also adds to the theme, but indirectly. It is about young boy who lives in a graveyard under the protection of its apparently-benevolent ghosts. The graveyard appears as a (somewhat bleak) sanctuary, while the living world outside is portrayed as evil and threatening. I do not object to this positive portrayal of a graveyard sanctuary, since there is no indication that our hero got to this juncture via suicide (in fact, he is refered to as the "live boy"). The problem arises because this appears in the same volume as "October...", and the situations are so similar that it almost that it might be a sequel. It seems to resolve the ambiguous ending of "October..." in favor of the idea that the suicidal act at the end of that story was a good idea.

Nonetheless, I might have thought that "...Headstone," viewed strictly on its own (rather than as a follow-up to "October..."), was a tolerable kids' horror fantasy, containing some genuinely imaginative and creepy situations. However, it contains yet another terrible flaw. One character, who the author clearly intends as sympathetic, is the ghost of a witch who, as revenge for her execution, curses an entire village to a painful death. Wait ... sorry - it was not quite the ENTIRE village. "Just those that watched me get burned and drowned," explains this mass-murderess (with a shrug) when our boy hero inquires on this issue. That seems to make it okay in Gaiman's mind. In short not only does Gaiman suggest (in "October...") that our kids ought to kill themselves, but he also suggests (in "... Headstone") that they might want to slaughter half the community on their way out, on the flimsiest of justifications.

Setting aside the volume's unsuitability for kids, and viewing it simply as a slim collection of adult stories, it remains a mixed bag. "The Price," about a mysterious stray cat, is the best story here. Others, such as "Troll Bridge" are memorably horrific and disturbing, though I hesitate to call them good. Still others, such as "The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds" and "How to Sell the Ponti Bridge", are just pointless tales that try too hard to be clever, and fail. Many of the stories (even "The Price") are underdeveloped - Gaiman seems to think that not finishing or adequately developing a story is a good way to create an illusion of depth. Almost all of the stories here can be found in earlier, larger, collections (The best ones are from SMOKE AND MIRRORS, while others are from FRAGILE THINGS). The only advantage to this slim volume is that it spares the reader exposure to some of Gaiman's more degraded dark fantasies.

Still, the stench of moral decay is not absent here, and virtually all the stories display a disturbing indifference to morality. "...Blackbirds" celebrates the principle that one must "look out for number one." When, in "Troll Bridge", the hero offers first his sister, then his girlfriend, to the troll in order to ransom himself, there is never any clear indication that the author feels that he ought to have behaved otherwise. "...Ponti Bridge" celebrates the glorious achievements of a con-man. "Sunbird" seems to celebrate, as though it were merely funny, a happy-go-lucky rascal who casually murders all his friends (for unexplained motives) in the course of obtaining immortality for himself.

"The Price" is the closest thing to an exception. The protagonist is a coward, as always, but the same cannot be said for the mysterious, self-sacrificing Cat who suffers for his sins. It is the only story here that strongly suggests the possibility of Good as well as Evil, and that is why it is my favorite.

Editorial Review:

Master storyteller Neil Gaiman presents a breathtaking collection of tales for younger readers that may chill or amuse, but that always embrace the unexpected:

• Humpty Dumpty's sister hires a private detective to investigate her brother's death.
• A teenage boy who has trouble talking to girls finds himself at a rather unusual party.
• A boy raised in a graveyard makes a discovery, and confronts the much more troubling world of the living.

My Weird School #1: Miss Daisy Is Crazy!

Dan Gutman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

If you've ever taught second grade... 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I discovered Dan Gutman's Weird School series from tutoring a second grade boy who "hated reading." Not only did he like the books, I loved them!
Second graders are the crazy ones, and these books remind me of when I taught second grade. In fact, I think Dan Gutman must really be a second grader in disguise as a grown-up...

This book is really cool. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is written by the famous author Dan Gutman. This book is good for ages 8-10. It is a really good book that I know you will enjoy.This boo is so funny. It is really funny. Miss Daisy is teaching second grade and she doesn't even know how to do anything. She is really dumb. The kids in her class are even smarter than miss Daisy. That is why the book is called Miss Daisy is Crazy. I hope for readind my review it will make you read this fabulous book. I hope you are going to enjoy this book.

Editorial Review:

Something weird is going on.

Miss Daisy, who teaches second grade, doesn't know how to add or subtract. Not only that, she doesn’t know how to read or write either. She is the dumbest teacher in the history of the world!

Coraline Movie Tie-in Edition

Neil Gaiman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"The message is this. Don't go through the door" 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Nobody can drench a book in creepy, dank atmosphere like Neil Gaiman -- and it doesn't matter if it's a kid's book.

And "Coraline" -- now being released as a movie -- is no exception to Gaiman's track record. It's a haunting little dark fairy tale full of decayed apartments, dancing rats and eerie soulless doppelgangers, as well as a gutsy heroine who finds herself in this ominous "other" world.

Newly moved into an aged apartment, Coraline (not "Caroline" is bored. Her parents are too busy to do anything with her, and her neighbors are either insane or boring.

It's the sort of relentlessly dull world that any little girl would want to escape from -- until Coraline does. She encounters a formerly bricked-up door that leads into an apartment in another world, which looks eerily like her own. In fact, it's so similar that she has a taloned, button-eyed "other mother" and matching "other father," as well as a chorus of singing, dancing rats and magical toys.

At first Coraline is fascinated by the other world, especially since her other parents are very attentive. Then she finds her real parents sealed inside a mirror. With the help of a sarcastic cat, Coraline ventures back into the other world. But with her parents and a trio of dead children held hostage, Coraline's only hope is to gamble with her own freedom -- and she'll be trapped forever if she fails.

Without Neil Gaiman's touch, "Coraline" would just be another story about a kid who learns to appreciate her parents. But he infuses this story with a dark fairy-tale vibe -- decayed apartments, dead children in a mirror, beetles, disembodied hands, monsters that cling to the wall with souls in their grip, and rats that sing about how "we were here before you rose, we will be here when you fall."

That dark, cobwebby atmosphere clings to the increasingly nightmarish plot, as Coraline navigates a world where the other mother has every advantage. And Gaiman's wordcraft is exquisitely horrible -- the other mother's hands are compared to spiders, her hair to undersea tentacles. And the fate of the other father is a magnificently ghastly thing.

He even infuses poetry into the horror ("A husk you'll be, a wisp you'll be, and a thing no more than a dream on waking, or a memory of something forgotten"), and a fair amount of macabre humour ("I swear it on my own mother's grave." "Does she have a grave?" "Oh yes. I put her in there myself. And when I found her trying to crawl out, I put her back").

Coraline herself is a wonderful little heroine -- strong, sensible, self-sufficient but still fairly freaked out about what is happening around her. The sarcastic cat is a wonderful counterpoint. And the other mother is the stuff of nightmares -- she's utterly inhuman and merciless -- who "wants something to love. Something that isn't her. She might want something to eat as well."

Neil Gaiman creates eerie, slightly warped worlds like nobody else, and he does an exquisitely horrible job in "Coraline." Just never go through the door.

Editorial Review:

When Coraline explores her new home, she steps through a door and into another house just like her own . . . except that it's different. It's a marvelous adventure until Coraline discovers that there's also another mother and another father in the house. They want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to keep her forever!

Coraline must use all of her wits and every ounce of courage in order to save herself and return home.

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (Joey Pigza Books)

Jack Gantos

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 223 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Joey Pigza can't sit still. He can't pay attention, he can't follow the rules, and he can't help it -- especially when his meds aren't working. Joey's had problems ever since he was born, problems just like his dad and grandma have. And whether he's wreaking havoc on a class trip or swallowing his house key, Joey's problems are getting worse. In fact, his behavior is so off the wall that his teachers are threatening to send him to the special-ed center downtown.

Joey knows he's really a good kid, but no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing, something always seems to go wrong. Will he ever get anything right?

00-01 Sunshine State Young Reader's Award Masterlist (Gr. 3-5), 00-01 Sunshine State Young Reader's Award Masterlist (Gr. 6-8), 2000-2001 Georgia's Picture Storybook Award & Georgia's Children's Book Award Masterlist, 01 AZ Young Reader Award Masterlist (Teen Bks cat.), 00-01 Minnesota's Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award Masterlist, 00-01 Land of Enchantment Book Award Masterlist (Gr. 3-6), 00-01 Young Reader's Choice Award Program Masterlist, Pacific NW Library Assoc. 2001 Young Reader's Choice Award Masterlist, and 00-01 Lone Star Reading List

Scary Stories Boxed Set

Alvin Schwartz

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 68 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

These are Not for the Faint of Heart 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The stories you will find in these books are the most terrifying I have ever read. As I understand it, they originate from American Folklore. This, in addition to Gammell's truly disturbing artwork, adds the minute shot of realism that transforms harmless fiction to something that reads more like a short, historical, tale of warning. They are told in a simple, blunt manner, giving the reader the impression that they are hearing a historical account. As a kid I was addicted to horror, but these were the tales that led to literally months of sleepless nights. If you are buying them for a child with a vivid imagination, prepare his or her parents' for the ensuing insomnia.

Memories of being scared to go to sleep 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I loved these books when I was little- this is what got me started off on my love for scary books/movies/tv shows. I still remember some of the stories from the books, especially one where the dark is creeping over the ceiling and walls, and they always seem to come to mind when I'm in the dark trying to sleep. The pictures still scare me and I'm 26 now. I'd recommend these books for anyone who loves scary stories- get those kids started off early! And they'll scare adults too...

Editorial Review:

Schwartz's three best-selling collections of scary folklore--Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Scary Stories 3--are made available in a three-volume boxed set.

My Weird School #19: Dr. Carbles Is Losing His Marbles!

Dan Gutman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I LOVED THIS BOOK! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I've read all of the Weird School books and enjoyed them. They are all funny. Dr Carbles is Losing his Marbles is a great book because it's really funny. I liked the parts involving a toupee (wig/fake hair). It gets yanked off of Dr. Carbles head in front of the students at recess and it's hysterical! I would reccomend this book.

Reveiwed by Matthew-8 yrs old

Great for getting kids to start reading 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

All these books are perfect for getting kids to take up reading, I buy them by the bunch and they get read inmediately.

Editorial Review:

It's Thanksgiving, but the kids at Ella Mentry School aren't feeling very thankful. That's because Dr. Carbles is grumpier than ever, and he wants to fire Mr. Klutz! Will A.J. and his friends be able to save their principal's job?

Anne of Green Gables (Young Reader's Classics)

L. M. Montgomery, Barbara Greenwood

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 312 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Comments on the Full Length Play (Dramatic Publishing) 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This full-length play, adapted from L.M. Montgomery's novel, has roles for 6-12 men and 12-19 women, with extras as desired. The time period is the early 1900's. The place is Avonlea and other locations on Prince Edward Island, Canada. All locales in the play can easily be performed on a unit set, however.

This dramatization faithfully conveys the spirit, events, and characters of the original novel, from her youth to early adulthood. The flexible casting and simple unit set make this play an ideal choice for community and school groups to produce.

Editorial Review:

Beloved by people the world over, L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables is a literature classic. Now younger readers will have a chance to discover the wonderful story of the reheaded orphan and her adventures in Prince Edward Island. Skillfully abridged by author Barbara Greenwood, this junior edition of Anne of Green Gables retains Anne's most celebrated escapades, from breaking her slate over Gilbert Blythe'shead to stranding herself in the middle of a pond while playing Elaine the Lily Maid. With 40 illustrations by Muriel Wood, this book is a vivid introduction to the imaginative world of Anne Shirley.

My Weird School #5: Miss Small Is off the Wall!

Dan Gutman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

this is a great book 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

hello this is a very great book i couldn't put it down.I just finshed it and it was terific!

Great 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Great series for kids just starting to read chapter books. The books are appropriate for both boys and girls. My daughter is 8 and she is now up to book 13. This writer is great.

Editorial Review:

Miss Small, the gym teacher, is teaching A.J., Andrea, and the gang to juggle scarves, balance feathers, and do the Chicken Dance! Is this any way to stay in shape? Whatever happened to good old dodgeball?

In fact, all the grown-ups at A.J.'s school seem to have something wrong with them. What's going on here? What are A.J. and the kids in his class going to do? They've got to convince Miss Small to act her age before the end of the year! Never before has school been this mixed up -- or this much fun. Popular author Dan Gutman pulls out all the stops for this right-on second-grade hilarity.

Be sure to read all the zany stories in this series: Miss Daisy is Crazy!, Mr. Klutz in Nuts!, Mrs. Roopy is Loopy!, and Ms. Hannah is Bananas!