Horn Book (September/October, 2010)
Mr. Jupiter, adventurer turned teacher, has agreed to stay on for another year with the most dreaded group of kids in Aesop Elementary history. Twenty fifth-graders, especially these twenty, promise to be a chal-lenge. We know he is up for them when he compares them to a bungee-jump off the Empire State Building and catching the Loch Ness monster. Following the same format as she did when these kids were in fourth grade, Fleming tells her tale through connected short stories that each end with a moral (it's not called Aesop Elementary for nothing!). Mr. Jupiter leads his class, clad in Aztec headdresses, into the school, dancing and wing-flapping all the way. And the moral? "Birds of a feather flock together." The names of the characters -- from Bernadette Braggadoccio to Humphrey Parrot -- let the reader know that things are going to get silly. We go through the year from projects to spelling bee to graduation, and after two years together, this crew is sad to say goodbye to the teacher who has made it all possible. A rare adventure -- one that many teachers and students will take to heart. robin l. smith
Mr. Jupiter, adventurer turned teacher, has agreed to stay on for another year with the most dreaded group of kids in Aesop Elementary history. Twenty fifth-graders, especially these twenty, promise to be a chal-lenge. We know he is up for them when he compares them to a bungee-jump off the Empire State Building and catching the Loch Ness monster. Following the same format as she did when these kids were in fourth grade, Fleming tells her tale through connected short stories that each end with a moral (it's not called Aesop Elementary for nothing!). Mr. Jupiter leads his class, clad in Aztec headdresses, into the school, dancing and wing-flapping all the way. And the moral? "Birds of a feather flock together." The names of the characters -- from Bernadette Braggadoccio to Humphrey Parrot -- let the reader know that things are going to get silly. We go through the year from projects to spelling bee to graduation, and after two years together, this crew is sad to say goodbye to the teacher who has made it all possible. A rare adventure -- one that many teachers and students will take to heart. robin l. smith
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