Ms. Bixby's Last Day by John David Anderson

Ms. Bixby's Last Day by John David Anderson
Walden Pond Press

Rating: 5 stars

You've probably already realized that most middle grade books are about a quest. The recent Newbery winner The Inquisitor's Tale is about a handful of young children in the Middle Ages who need to escape persecution and save holy texts. In another middle grade I recently read with Lorelei, The Last Boy at St Edith's, the lone boy at an all-girls school embarks on a quest to get kicked out.

Ms. Bixby's Last Day involves a quest, too, and a wonderfully unique one. Here's the story:

Topher, Brand, and Steve are three boys whose teacher is "one of the great ones." They each appreciate Ms Bixby in a different, special, sweet way; I love how you don't get the full story of why they feel so drawn to her until later in the book. The story is told through alternating first person voice--each boy gets their own chapter and the story unfolds from these similar but yet different points of view. I love how this sheds light on their own individual story as well as the bigger one of which they're all a part.

Anyway, because they really like and respect her, they're sobered when Ms Bixby announces to the class that she has cancer. To make matters worse, she is then too sick to attend her own goodbye party. The boys decide this won't do; they need to go out, find her, and have a goodbye party for her wherever she is, since she can't come to them. 

The boys skip school and navigate through the real world to the hospital--with great adventures on the city streets that both boy and girl readers will lap up. But, like any good middle grade quest, the adventure is simply the way in which the characters learn about themselves and, in this one, a little more about each other.  

What's so great about this book? Two things:

First, I think it's hard for a middle grade book to be both emotional and funny. This book balances the emotional heaviness of the subject--a favorite teacher is going to die--with the quirkiness and grossness and silliness of middle school boys. It's a fantastic reminder to young and old readers alike that it's important to find a reason to smile and laugh in the face of hard times. And hard times will come to those young and old readers alike. My children have lost two great-uncles in the past two years, one dying from kidney cancer, the other dying from complications after a stroke. And yet, we find a reason to come together in our clan of five and with extended family to laugh and play and bond.

Second, I love that the main characters are boys. Boy books are so often full of boogers and poop and potty-mouth words, and while this book does sprinkle in a little bit of that here and there because...well, call me sexist but boys will be boys..., boys are also emotional beings. It seems obvious to point out that they are full of as wide a range of emotions as their female counterparts, but I think we grown-ups forget that. I love that Topher, Brand, and Steve feel so much for their teacher that they feel the need to go find her and say good-bye in a way that feels right to them.

The party that finally happens does involve Jack Daniels, which keeps that final goodbye chuckle-worthy. Though you might, like me, tear up as well.

One final note: Lorelei read this first, and then Ben and I started listening to the audiobook together on a long drive. He's not finished listening to it yet, but on our Spring Break we cozied up for 30-45 minutes at a time listening together. It was a nice break from me reading aloud to him--it put us on the same pillow.

Gooney Bird Collection by Lois Lowry

Gooney Bird Collection (includes Gooney Bird Greene, Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, Gooney the Fabulous, Gooney Bird is So Absurd) by Lois Lowry
Random House
Rating: 5 stars

Lorelei, Ben, Kiefer, and I listened to this collection of Gooney Bird Greene books while traveling to, around, and from the beach this month. Because the beach we love the most is a solid six hours (without crazy beach traffic) away, I thought I'd try a few audio books. I looked for short ones, less than an hour long. This collection, by the prolific and talented Lois Lowry, was their second try. (The first, The Twits by Roald Dahl received a ho-hum rating from them.) This collection was a smashing success!

Gooney Bird is the clever, eccentric new girl who brings intrigue and excitement (in appropriate, elementary-school ways) to her classroom. She wants to sit smack-dab in the middle of the classroom because she likes to be smack-dab in the middle of the action. She wears tutus and sometimes underpants on her head (it's a "two pony-tailed hat," not underpants!) and even stilettos once, though she has buyer's remorse about them because they're so uncomfortable. She tells crazy stories that sound like far-fetched whoppers but are actually true, and she takes time and pride telling the whole story to her classmates.

What makes me want to climb the nearest hilltop and shout about these books? Lois Lowry has the recipe for a fantastic middle grade book because of the wild and funny, mostly believable but sometimes looney character of Gooney Bird. My kids loved her--Ben and Lorelei cheered for her, begged for me to put the CDs on in the car for even a five minute drive. And Lowry has the perfect amount of humor and education in each book. 

The classroom's teacher, Mrs. Pidgeon, and Gooney Bird herself teach the class (and all the readers) a huge amount in and through the books. In Gooney Bird Greene, Mrs. Pidgeon uses Gooney Bird's wild stories to teach how to write a story--how to have interesting characters, create a setting, weave a plot, add some suspense, etc. Gooney Bird is satisfied with her role as "junior teacher" (though I suspect if she was in a real-life classroom setting the teacher would want to bump down her importance just a notch). In Gooney the Fabulous, the class learns to write fables, and Gooney Bird's classmates all take turns sharing theirs, and Mrs. Pidgeon listen and critiques each one. In Gooney Bird is So Absurd, the class learns all about poetry and how to write different types of poems, including rap, which my kids loved.



Any age can listen, but because the books take place entirely inside the classroom, Kindergarten through fourth grade is its sweet spot. Highly recommend!

Because You Are My Teacher by Sherry North

Because You Are My Teacher by Sherry North, illustrated by Marcellus Hall

Rating: 4 stars

It's Teacher Appreciation Week at Ben's preschool, so we parents have been baking and flowering and hugging our kids' teachers a little more often to make sure they know they are appreciated.  Maybe I should also give Ben's teachers a copy of this book…

Because You Are My Teacher is a terrific gift book.  In fact, if not for a teacher gift, I'm not sure why else you'd buy it.  The book is a list of all the places that the fictional, in-the-book teacher "takes" her class--out to sea, over a volcano, across the Amazon, down in a submarine, to name a few destinations.

If we had a schooner, we would shave our class at sea
And study the Atlantic, where the great blue whales roam free.
If we had some camels, we would trek through desert lands
To see the ancient pyramids rising from the sands.
If we had a chopper, we would soar above the cone
Of a rumbling volcano as it churns out liquid stone.

The illustrations by Marcellus Hall are terrific; they show the teacher at the helm of one vehicle or the next while also (I imagine) spewing thought-provoking lessons to the smiling children that obediently and enthusiastically follow her.

While I know that each minute of every day my children go to school won't be this picture-perfect or this adventurous, I do know that the vast majority of their teachers will give them her or his very best.  And for that--and for them--I am oh so grateful!

Our classroom is our vessel, always headed someplace new.
Because you are our teacher, we'll explore the world with you.

Thank you, teachers!