Miss Small Is off the Wall

June 1, 2012
Gr 2-3-Miss Daisy's athletic second graders are looking forward to their new phys ed class, but it turns out to be radically different from their expectations in Dan Gutman's humorous easy-chapter book (HarperCollins, 2005). Ironically, Miss Small, the gym teacher, is extremely tall, so most of the boys guess they'll be starting with basketball. Or football. Or, that perennial favorite of bullies everywhere, dodge ball, where the express purpose is to hurt someone with the ball. Instead, students must balance a feather on their finger, partner up for square dancing, juggle scarves, and do the chicken dance! Pretty much everything other than sports is declared "dumb" by A. J. and his pals, who enjoy put downs, class clowning, and shooting straw wrappers at girls. Miss Small eventually wins over the naysayers with her games and "Cootie" Philosophy: a jarring acronym of Cooperation, Teamwork, and Sportsmanship. Immaturity with hyperbole reigns throughout the series, and the low standard continues: adults are "boring," and the word "dumb" is used over and over again. Luckily, teen narrator, Jared Goldsmith, gets the voices just right, and the short chapters will be palatable for reluctant readers.-"Lonna Pierce, MacArthur Elementary School, Binghamton, NY"

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