Product Description

There was a terrible mistake-Wayside School was built with one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high! (The builder said he was sorry.) Maybe that's why all kinds of funny things happened at Wayside-especially on the thirteenth floor.

There was a terrible mistake-Wayside School was built with one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high! (The builder said he was sorry.) Maybe that's why all kinds of funny things happened at Wayside-especially on the thirteenth floor.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17818 in Books
• Published on: 1998-06-01
• Released on: 2004-12-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780380731480
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
The Wayside School was supposed to be one story high, with 30 classrooms side by side; instead, it was built sideways, with 30 one-classroom stories. As befits such a strange school, these tales are a bit strange too. In one, Jason is stuck to his seat by a large wad of chewing gum. His teacher tries throwing ice water on him (to chill the gum to brittleness) and turning him upside down. She even contemplates cutting his pants off. Finally, though, he falls from his upside-down position when kissed (ugh!) by one of the girls in the class. Other tales include a bit of a moral, such as the story of Kathy, whose assumption that no one will ever like her is proved right, or the story of Bebe, who draws quickly but without artistic merit. The quirky humor in this book is appealing to children, and it makes a good read-aloud book for the younger set. (Ages 5 to 12) --Richard Farr

From the Publisher
Lois Sachar, best-selling author of the Wayside School series, knows how to make kids laugh. And there are laughs galore in this popular book, now available again in hardcover. Meet Mrs. Gorf, the teacher who turns the students in Wayside School into apples.

From the Inside Flap
Read by Lionel Wilson
Two cassettes / two hours 48 mins.

You can imagine the confusion at Wayside School when the builder made a terrible mistake. You see, instead of building 30 classrooms side-by-side, he built them one on top of another.

Maybe that accounts for the wacky goings-on in Mrs. Jewls' class. Where else will you find children being turned into apples, dead rats wearing raincoats, and little girls who try to sell their toes? If you're confused too, maybe Todd can explain it to you, but just remember, he leaves at noon.

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Customer Reviews

I have read this a million times and just gets funnier!
This book was first read to me in the first grade. I am now in 8th, and have read it at least a million times. It is a hillarious book that can help kids see how everyone is different. Besides that, it's just so darn funny. I have read many books by Louis Sachar, and in my opinion he is the best author ever.

So Funny
I am an adult and I really enjoyed this book. It is basically a quirky book with a very short story for each of the students in one particular class, plus the two teachers. (The first teacher is mean and comes to a funny demise.) So there are thirty short stories.

It is silly humor. For example, the mean teacher turns the students into apples, a girl tries to sell her toes (unsuccessfully), a dead rat disguises itself as a student, and so on.

Warning: The humor is black humor, but hilarious. So you may want to pre-read this book to see if it is appropriate for your child. But despite being black humor, everything ends well and for the best, sort of like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Junie B. Jones. This is not a "sweet" book, but it is fun!

A funny, modivational collection...
I recently dug this book out from beneath a lot of my childhood stuff. My dad read it to me when I was just a little kid; at 18, I just reread it, and enjoyed it as much, if not more so--because now I could read between the lines.

Thirty chapters. Each one is like a fable--an entertaining story, a nugget of truth woven into the fabric of each one. Peer pressure, politeness, standing up for yourself...sometimes the lessons are direct, sometimes they are subtle. Maybe kids won't understand them exactly, but they'll certainly remember the stories and remember the lessons thus.

The story:

There is something very wrong with Wayside School. It was built sideways--instead of one story with 30 rooms, is has 30 stories and one room per story. No nineteenth story, though, meaning that Miss Zarves, who teaches there, doesn't exist, either.

At Wayside, students have the tendency to get turned into apples; those pesky dead rats, who live in the basement, are always trying to get into class; sleeping through class is considered educational; turning the lights on and off is a task not just anyone can do; you can help yourself to ice cream with the flavor of your fellow students, but please refrain from biting your classmates; the lunch lady just can't ruin milk, no matter how hard she tries; mosquito bites are great for counting purposes; your two missing teeth are the best in the whole world, as are the hat you aren't wearing and the joke you didn't tell; only being able to read upside down ain't much of a problem, after all; where toes cost a nickel apiece, unless they're little runts; trading names consists of spinning around really fast until you don't know who's who; if two plus two doesn't equal four, watch out; and where you need a reason to be sad, but not to be happy.

"Sideways Stories From Wayside School" by Lous Sachar is a classic. Buy it, for your kid, your sibling, your niece/nephew, or yourself. It's entertaing for all ages, and just might help its reader become a better person.