Review by Booklist Review
Ages 5-8. Mr. Keene, the principal of a fine, fine school, just loves to see his students learning. So happy is Mr. Keene, he calls an assembly, proclaims his pride, and gives an order, "Let's have school on Saturdays, too!" Young Tille is less than pleased. On weekends she likes to climb her favorite tree; show her dog, Beans, tricks; and teach brother how to skip. But soon, she's going to school on Sundays, holidays, and during the summer. Finally, Tille's had enough. She marches into Mr. Keene's office and announces that not everyone is learning. Horrified, Mr. Keene demands to know what she means, and Tille explains: Beans isn't learning his tricks, her brother isn't learning to skip, and she's not climbing very well. Mr. Keene gets the picture immediately, and he revokes his order: "Fine, fine, fine," the students and teachers cheer. This book has it all: a fine, fresh idea; a witty text that's fun to read aloud; and, most of all, intelligent, amusing art that provides an extra load of laughs. Bliss, an award-winning cartoonist at The New Yorker, takes a good idea and flies with it. He captures the initial intensity of the classroom and elevates it to the blissfully absurd, as banners spring up in the cafeteria ("Why not study while you chew?") and the children wear signs on their huge, stuffed backpacks that read, "How's my walking?" The closer one looks, the more laughs there are, and everyone--kids, parents, teachers, even principals--will want to look more than once. --Ilene Cooper
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Given current battles over standardized testing and summer sessions, this timely story about extended schooling touches a nerve with a kindly delivery. The tale centers on Mr. Keene, a good-intentioned but zealous principal, and Tillie, a studious girl who spends free time teaching her little brother to skip and climb trees. When strolling the school hallways, Mr. Keene beams, "Aren't these fine students? Aren't these fine teachers? Isn't this a fine, fine school?" He so adores education that he schedules classes for weekends, then holidays, then summers, too. Tillie's low-key home life is transformed. She checks her watch and lugs a giant briefcase off to class, despite her lonely brother's imploring looks. Meanwhile, Mr. Keene exclaims, "How much we will learn!" He doesn't notice the gasps and grimaces of his stressed-out students and teachers. Creech (Love That Dog) styles the principal as proud of his scholars and staff, but shows how his drastic measures diminish quality of life. New Yorker cartoonist Bliss, in an impressive debut, foregrounds the core drama between Tillie and the principal, yet also develops secondary characters among Tillie's overwhelmed classmates (toting books called Really Hard Math and The Meaning of Life) and her precocious dog, Beans (calmly enjoying the "Arts and Leisure" section); comic thought balloons, clever book titles and expressive faces contribute to the tale's success. In the end, Tillie politely convinces Mr. Keene that he has been unreasonable. With quiet intensity, Creech and Bliss persuasively argue one side of a volatile issue. Ages 4-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-This charming tale by Sharon Creech (HarperCollins, 2003) tells of an exuberant principal who is so pleased with his student's achievements that he extends the school day to include weekends, holidays, and the summer. A young student, Tillie, convinces him that there are important things that kids can learn outside the classroom as well. Perhaps it is not so fine to be at school all of the time. Harry Bliss, a New Yorker cartoonist as well as the book's illustrator, narrates this story. His reading is energetic, and his voice is clear and enjoyable. Appealing sound effects add to the story, such as school bells ringing and children cheering. On side one of the cassette the story is told with page signals; the second side tells an uninterrupted version of the tale. The page signal consists of the actual sound of a page turning, and may be difficult for young listeners to discern, along with the many varied sound effects. This book and tape set is certain to be a popular addition in public and school libraries.-Maren Ostergard, Bellevue Regional Library, King County Library System, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
An overzealous principal decides to extend school time through the weekends, evenings, and finally summer vacation until Tillie tells him about the things they are [cf2]not[cf1] learning, such as tree climbing. While the illustrations of the mountain-like principal are benevolent and Creech's writing style is tight, this poke at self-indulgence in education has more to say to adults than to children. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
School can be peachy, but that doesn't mean time away from school isn't just as valuable, which is the lesson Principal Keene has to learn in this charming story of a school administrator utterly rapt in his job. Mr. Keene just can't get enough of his fine school with all that fine learning being taught by the fine teachers to the fine students. So he decides to have school on Saturday, then Sunday, then on holidays, then the whole year through: "He was so proud of the students and the teachers, of all the learning they were doing every day." Literally. But the students and teachers aren't so sanguine about the situation, though no one wanted to prick Mr. Keene's balloon. Until Tillie finally tells him that some others are not learning because of all the school, like her dog, who hasn't learned how to sit, or her little brother, who hasn't learned how to swing or skip, because she's never home to teach them. Indeed, she hasn't learned to climb a tree for all the classroom time she's been putting in. Mr. Keene sees the light, beveling his enthusiasm and putting his good intentions into perspective. Creech's text capably moves the story forward, but it has all the humor of a stoat and the repetitions are overmuch. Yet Bliss (Girl of the Shining Mountain, 1999, etc.) comes through not just to save the day, but to make the story memorable, with appealing characters and numerous silly sight gags and verbal asides, like the post-it notes that read "Massive Quiz Saturday" and "Power Nap 2 pm," the photo in the kid's locker from his parents signed "We Miss You Son!" and the TV screen that reads "The Best Cartoons in the World Start in 5 Minutes!!" just as Tillie is shuffling out the door to school on Christmas. Just fine. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
