Summary:
There Was Once A Very Odd School by Stephen Krensky is a poetry book about an unusual school. It is a fantasy book about a different school, where you can play all day and learn how to have fun. But it also addresses the daily struggles for young children being at school and having to adjust. The teachers range from strange adults to dinosaurs and aliens. The book is about young children who are trying to survive the school year and make it more exciting with their crazy imaginations.

Personal reaction:
I found this book funny. It was very catchy too after reading it I still had they rhyming scheme in my head while writing my review. The font was strange and wacky, emphasizing the spontaneous imagination if the books story. The rhyming scheme had three different styles: AABB, ABBA and ABAB. AABB was the most used. Every line rhymed with another. The illustrations matched the text and brought it to life. The illustrations of the characters are bizarre and unusual all in keeping with the theme of a “very odd” school. I found “I hate i before e, except after c” funny. The wording is very descriptive and the pictures are bright and vibrant. It is a fun book for young children in school.

Classroom extensions:
1. Teach children the simple mnemonic rules to spelling words correctly. Such as i before e except after c and Betty eats cake and uncle sells eggs (because).
2. Teach the different rhyming schemes in poems and assign them to make their own rhyming poems. ( )

This was a fun collection of rhymes that i feel a younger group would really enjoy. They were all very silly and had goofy illustrations all related to things at this odd school. I felt this collection was very simple and could be geared toward early poem readers. The section that i found the most humorous questioned the rule "i before e except after c".
"To learn spelling is such a big grind.
I'm constantly falling behind.
I hate i before e
Except after c.
Why can't i just make up it's mind?"

There Was Once a Very Odd School definitely lives up to its title. The story begins with an ideal school whose only rule is to have recess all day. Then there is the lunch that moves and talk, not to mention the teachers that turn students to rocks! About midway through this story the school seems like any other school with children going mad from multiplication memorization and class presentations. ( )