Author: Louis Sachar
Illustrator: Julie Brinckloe
Published by:Avon Camelot,1985
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Primary Characters: Mrs. Jewls and her students
Secondary Characters: Mrs. Gorf and Lois
Themes: Friends and Friendship, Elementary School
"Anything Can Happen In A School that Was All Mixed Up The Day It Was Built."
A terrible mistake was made by the builder of Wayside School!! Instead of building the school with thirty classrooms in a row, he built them on top of each other. Sideways Stories from Wayside School gives us tales from Mrs. Jewls's class on the 30th floor. The book starts with the meanest teacher ever..Mrs. Gorf. Don't give her a wrong answer or she will turn you into an apple! After Mrs. Gorf leaves, the class on the 30th floor gets a new teacher, Mrs. Jewl. She is the nicest teacher every and she hates dead rats. After Mrs. Jewls is introduced there are 26 chapters introducing each student individually, chapter 19 is a must read introducing Mrs. Zarves, and the final chapter is interesting as Lois tells the class a story. If you love reading about kids being turned into apples, girls selling their toes, or Maurecia-flavored ice cream then this book is one for you!
Grab a copy today and introduce it to your 3rd - 5th grade classroom! They will meet terrible Todd who always goes home early, Deedee the problem solver, toothless Rondi, stinky Sammy and many more. This is a great book to start introducing book series. There are five Wayside School chapter books in all. The last two could also be used in Math lessons as they require solving arithmetic problems to finish the story.
