Schooling Around #2: Pencil of Doom!

Pencil of Doom is exciting and funny. Henry gets into a lot of tricky situations with this very dangerous pencil. His teacher, Mr. Brainfreight, will teach you a lot of lessons. I think all the kids my age (Grade 5) should read this book because it has so many interesting parts. This is a book that you will not want to put down. The Schooling Around Series is my favorite; these are the best books that I have ever read.

Henry McThrottle of Northwest Southeast Central School likes to write stories. And since his school isn't your typical school, there is plenty of fodder to keep his stories interesting. Beginning with the fact that his school is run like a ship and their school song sounds just like "The Good Ship Lollypop," and ending with..., what, a fiendish pencil? Readers of Henry's first book, Treasure Fever will remember the pencil as one which nearly chose him out of Principal Greenbeard's childhood treasure box. And though it looks like your average pencil--albeit with a little bling--this pencil is far from average. Whatever Henry and his friends draw with this pencil comes true. The challenge is for Henry to destroy the pencil before the pencil destroys them. This is yet another fun schoolhouse middle reader, much in the vein of The Captain Underpants Series without the bathroom humor. It is zany and off the wall. Things happen at this school that just don't happen at normal schools. Filled with escaped lions and teachers forgoing math for magic trick education will keep the kids turning pages. This is Book One in the series, however, I would stick pretty closely to the recommended age guidelines of ages 9-12 or grades 4-7. This book is considerably darker than its predecessor, Treasure Fever. Though it is goofy and anyone with a little life experience will see right through the story, a child that is easily scared, or feels intensity in a book, might be frightened by it. For example, I won't be handing it off to my second graders, yet. So while I applaud Andy Griffiths for yet another fun read, use wisdom when giving it to younger kids. Armchair Interviews says: Ideal for age-appropriate readers.