SYNOPSIS

A.J. starts off second grade with a cold realization – he hates school.

He also hears his teacher, Miss Daisy, admit that she doesn’t know how to read, write, do arithmetic or much of anything else. 

A.J. and his friends decide not to tell Principal Klutz that their teacher is “really dumb” and to teach her some basics, which Miss Daisy appreciates.

In an attempt to buy the school off of Principal Klutz so they can turn it into a video arcade, the second graders collectively read one million pages. 

They also meet a football player who demonstrates that football players are not, in fact, dumb either. 

(1st in a 21-book series)

PERFECT AGE 6 – 8

THEMES

• School is “dumb” except when you do useful things, like help your teacher be less clueless, use arithmetic to understand football, read many books to earn a prize or measure your height with a cool ruler in the nurse’s office
• Teachers are clueless and helpless; principals are not much better
• Some students are annoying, especially when they have the answers or want to please the teacher

CAUTION

• Miss Daisy’s reverse psychology to get students to learn – “I hate school too!… I have no idea what you get when you multiply four times four! Perhaps you can explain it to me?” – may be amusing but it also denigrates the teacher’s role in young readers’ eyes
• To avoid normalizing offensive language in your child’s vocabulary (see next slide), perhaps express disapproval when reading those bits…
• …or just choose another book for your child! For fun children’s series, consider “Dragon Masters” by Tracey West; for inquisitive youngster adventures, pick up “Zoey and Sassafras”.

WATCH OUT FOR (Language, Big / Sensitive Topics, Outdated Concepts):

• On multiple occasions, A.J. describes his teacher as “dumb” and “the dumbest teacher in the history of the world”; one chapter is titled “Dumb Miss Daisy and Principal Klutz”… you get it.
• Principal Klutz’s bald head gets a lot of laughter and attention in class; only when Klutz puts on a hat, does he looks like a “regular person” (according to A.J.).
• Principal Klutz makes a joke about his brains falling out of his head…
• A.J. describes a (not particularly annoying) fellow student, Andrea, as an annoying know-it-all, says he hates her.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

• What is a possible reason Miss Daisy says she can’t read, write or do math?
• What would you say to someone who describes a teacher or another grown-up as “dumb”?
• If you could get or do something special in return for reading a million pages, what would it be?