In the Dinosaur's Paw

I followed the Polk St School books in 4th grade and read them all in order. WHen I got to this one, I enjoyed it, but immediately found this one different from the others. It was the one that you realize doesn't fit in with the series. For starters, in the others, you will notice that every scene takes place in a school setting; playground, classroom or walking home. In this one, we get a glimpse of Richard at home, on his way back to school after Christmas vacation. He starts getting harassed by school bully, Drake. Then he finds a ruler in his desk, which seems to have magical powers. That was the other thing: these books were supposed to be sort of realistic fiction. Well the ruler and magic didn't fit in with that image. However I guess all of us as kids could have at least sworn something was magic... this book is still good, though. I liked it, it just wasn't my favorite.