The Bug in Teacher's Coffee and Other School Poems (I Can Read Book Series: Level 2)

by Kalli Dakos, Mike Reed (Illustrator)

Overview

What really goes on at school! Funny poems and pictures explore the secret lives of school lunches, jungle gyms, pencils, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780064443050
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/23/2002
Series:	I Can Read Book 2 Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.19(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kalli Dakos is known for her many books of poetry about school, including Don't Read This Book Whatever You Do: More Poems About School and If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand: Poems About School, both illustrated by G. Brian Karas. She is a reading specialist who regularly visits schools to teach poetry workshops. Ms. Dakos lives in Ontario, Canada.

Mike Reed’s pictures have appeared in Business Week and the Minneapolis Star Tribune as well as in children’s books. Mr. Reed lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Read an Excerpt

Jack's Pencil

I've been taken hostage
By that creepy kid, Clark.
He stuck me in his desk,
Where it's smelly and dark.

He won't let me out
And he won't give me back.
I'm sitting here yelling,
"I'm in the desk, Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!"

Table of Contents

	Good Morning	7
	Front Door	9
	The Class Goldfish (1)	10
	Math Test	12
	Bee	13
	Jack's Pencil	14
	Happy Birthday to You	16
	The Teddy Bear in the Library	18
	Comb	19
	Flying Around the Classroom	20
	Gym	23
	Monkey Bars	24
	Slide	25
	David Grabs Me	26
	The Class Goldfish (2)	28
	Cold Dog on a Tray	29
	The Bug in Teacher's Coffee	31
	Schools Get Hung'ry Too	32
	I'm the Teacher's Cookie	33
	Ten Ants in the Classroom	34
	Snowflake Peeking in the Window	38
	The Class Goldfish (3)	39
	The School Bell	40

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 2-An introduction to poetry and personification that gives voice to the everyday objects found in a school. From the "Good Morning" welcome of the building to the shrill good-bye of "The School Bell," beginning readers will be captivated by the quirky personalities of things that normally receive little notice. This wacky world of rhyme brings to life a petrified pencil trapped in a desk, monkey bars, and a slide, among other items. Reed's zany artwork is a perfect complement to the humorous poetry.-Maura Bresnahan, Shawsheen School, Andover, MA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Dakos's collection of 23 poems from the perspective of items found at school satisfies the I Can Read requirements of simplicity and word repetition, but may not lure beginning readers back for a second time. The material is uninspiring: The school's front door says, "Keep me shut,/I have the flu,/Achooooooooo!/Achooooooooo!/Achooooooooo!/Achooooooooo!/Keep me shut,/I have the flu." A book sings "Happy Birthday" to a ruler, then sings "Happy Unbirthday" when the ruler says that it is not its birthday. Also appearing are a couple of clever items—one on a kidnapped pencil and another on a comb pulling hazardous duty—along with some typographic elements that amiably convey the idea that words are malleable; Reed's illustrations possess geniality and character, making some inanimate objects very personable. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews