Product Description

Titles include Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, Wayside School Is Falling Down and Sideway Stories From Wayside School.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2679 in Books
• Published on: 1996-11-01
• Released on: 1996-11-01
• Format: Box set
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780380791712
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
When Louis Sachar was going to school, his teachers always pronounced his name wrong. Now that he has become a popular author of children’s books, teachers all over the country are pronouncing his name wrong. It should be pronounced "Sacker," like someone who tackles quarterbacks or someone who stuffs potatoes into sacks.

Mr. Sachar received a B.A. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley. His first book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, was accepted for publication during his first year of law school. After receiving his law degree, he spent six years asking himself whether he wanted to be an author or a lawyer before deciding to write for children full-time. His books include Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom, Wayside School is Falling Down, Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes, and the Marvin Redpost series.

Louis Sachar lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and their daughter, Sherre. In His Own Words...

"One thing I would like to know from my favorite authors is who their favorite authors are. So I will begin there. My favorite authors (not necessarily in order) are: E. L. Doctorow; J. D. Salinger; Kurt Vonnegut; Dostoyevski; Tolstoy; Flannery O'Connor; Kinky Friedman; Rex Stout; E. B. White; William Saroyan; John Steinbeck; Dr. Seuss. These are mostly adult authors, which is only fitting, since I am mostly an adult."

"I was born in East Meadow, New York. My father worked on the seventy-eighth floor of the Empire State Building, which I thought was pretty cool. We moved to Tustin, California, when I was nine, not too far from Disneyland."

"I wrote my first children's story as part of a creative writing assignment in high school. That story was called "Apple Power" and was about a mean teacher named Mrs. Gorf who turned her students into apples. My teacher didn't think that I had taken the assignment seriously and suggested I write something else."

"During my last year of college at the University of California at Berkeley, I worked part-time at a nearby elementary school -- Hillside School. I got college credit for being a teacher's aide, and I was paid two dollars an hour to watch over the kids on the playground. My official title was Noontime Supervisor, but the kids called me Louis the yard teacher."

"After graduating from college I wrote Sideways Stories from Wayside School. The kids in the book are named after the kids I knew at Hillside, and, of course, Louis the yard teacher is in there, too."

"I went to law school in San Francisco a year later, and the book was published during my second year. When I graduated in 1980, I had to make the difficult choice between writing and practicing law. I knew I could make a good living practicing law, but I chose to write because it was what I liked to do."

"I met Carla in 1981 while visiting a school in Texas. She was the school counselor and became the inspiration behind the character (also a counselor named Carla) in There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom. When I wrote the book, I didn't know I'd END up marrying her."

"We were married in 1985, and our daughter, Sherre, was horn in 1987. In 1990 we moved from San Francisco to Austin, Texas. We have a dog named Lucky. In my spare time I like to play duplicate bridge."

Customer Reviews

The books are still great but the illustrations are different!
This set, 'Wayside School Boxed Set' is also known as 'The Wayside School Collection' and contains all three of the "real" books in the 'Wayside School' series. 'Sideways Stories From Wayside School', 'Wayside School is Falling Down' and 'Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger' are as entertaining as they always were. The price is very good and you even get the three boxes together in a box. Please note that you do not get the Wayside Arithmetic books, which really were for more devoted fans and did nothing to enhance the actual storyline found in the three major/main books.

The only problem I had here was with the illustrations. I grew up reading the 'Wayside School' books, as they were illustrated by Julie Brinckloe. For years, I had a very clear picture of all the characters from Wayside School. Brinckloe's illustrations were very good at making the characters match Louis Sachar's descriptions. They've been stuck in my head for fifteen to twenty years. These three titles in the 'Wayside School' box set are illustrated by Adam McCauley and the difference is startling. I have a hard time warming up to the new (and inferior) artwork. Even though I like having the three books in a tidy little set, I definitely prefer Brinckloe's illustrations of the Wayside gang.

Everybody knows that Louis Sachar's humor was the real calling card for the 'Wayside School' series and not the pictures. However, you may want to stick with earlier copies of these books if you grew up looking at Julie Brinckloe's illustrations, as I did. Adam McCauley's illustrations are inferior in every way. The drawings are more juvenile and they don't look much like the original characters.

Don't get me wrong. The books are great, among the best children's literature you can buy for around $10 (the average price of the set). I'm still giving this four stars but you need to think about it a little before buying this box set. Unless you have no real attachment to the earlier artwork or are a first-time reader of the 'Wayside School' series, you'll want to track down the earlier copies. The "original" books are widely available for a great price in paperback, even if you have to buy them separately.

Great Book
This book is about a class. They are located on the 30th story of their school. You'll meet john who can only read upside down. Sammy the stinky one. Laugh your guts off as you read these wacky stories.

This book is appropriate for middle grade readers and for people who love comedy books This book is by the Newberry award winner Louis Sachar {rhymes with cracker} who also wrote Wayside School is falling down and Wayside school gets a little stranger.

-Smiles

Clever, zany stories by Louis Sachar
I first heard about these books from a friend who's a second grade teacher. She would read them to her class. Each chapter is a quick, individual story, usually about a particular student or situation. I keep one of these slim volumes in my purse at all times and pull it out when we have 5 to 15 minutes, like when waiting for our meal at a restaurant or waiting for daddy while he's in the dressing room. Since the stories stand alone, it's okay if you don't read them continuously: days or weeks may go by and you can quickly jump back into the world of Wayside School. Both my ten year old son and 7 year old daughter love these clever, zany, ironic stories. (Sometimes my ten year old reads them to the 7 year old!) Many stories require a little extra thinking to "get" the joke. It's a pleasure to see your kids eyes light up when they do! The book set makes a great gift for kids who aren't keen on reading, and, of course, those who are!