My Teacher Is an Idiom

May 15, 2015
Confusion about idioms plus rudeness in the cafeteria equals unpleasant consequences for second-graders Patrick and Richard. Prankster Patrick loves nothing more than a good joke. Richard is determined that Patrick will never get him in trouble with his joking again. It's Mind Your Manners Month at school, and the cafeteria is a challenging place to stay out of trouble. When Patrick and Richard decide to suck red Jell-O up a straw and pretend to be vampires, they end up freaking out Sophie, the new student from France, who thinks she is seeing blood. Mr. E., the vice principal, gets doused in "blood." The boys are busted for having such horrible manners, but things get a little more complicated when Sophie tells the boys they are stupid. "I call a cat a cat," she declares. Thus begins the running joke of the book: French idioms are different from American ones. When Sophie "makes white cabbage," it takes a bit of work for the boys to understand she is drawing a blank. Readers will enjoy trying to untangle Sophie's idiomatic speech and will be glad to see both boys pay their debts. Neither boy is particularly likable, however, and Patrick's father-who encourages his son's naughtiness-is especially unpleasant. One unfortunate running gag-Mr. E. is mocked for his enormous stash of size XXXXL T-shirts-does not play out in the illustrations, in which his size is depicted as unremarkable. Nothing to write home about. (Fiction. 7-12)

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2015
Grades 2-4 It's Mind Your Manners Month at Sumac School, but that's hard for second-grader Richard when his best friend, Patrick, is a jokester. When one of his pranks leaves red Jell-O splattered on the vice-principal's shirt, and Sophiethe new student from Francecalls them stupid, the trio of classmates ends up in the office. The misunderstanding becomes even murkier when Richard tries to explain the situation to Sophie using idiomatic expressions. When she starts talking about making white cabbage, they also learn that idioms exist in other languages as well. The idioms and humor abound throughout as Richard and Patrick suffer the consequences of Patrick's prank by creating and delivering a report on manners in the lunch room at the next school assembly. With Patrick not one to keep his nose clean, the boys' friendship is also tested as Patrick continues his antics. Accompanied by lively black-and-white sketches, Richard's first-person narration lends a hand at keeping lessons on language arts and manners lighthearted.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)