The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School

The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School is a fun, imaginative modern age fairy tale. The characters' names are often plays on words (librarian "Paige Turner"); many of which will go right over the heads of the intended audience but adults will get (smart kid "Stanford Binet"). Mr. Jupiter is the new teacher to a group of infamously misbehaving fourth graders. He (in fairytale fashion) walks in off the street asking the principal for a job the day before school starts and is hired on the spot. The book is a series of short stories, very much like traditional Aesop's fables. Most are 5-10 pages long and each ends with a traditional Aesop's fable moral, but the stories are modern and the setting is the classroom. So whereas traditional Aesop would tell the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, this book tells the story of a not-very-booksmart girl who memorizes a 58 line poem, a little bit each day, in order to win a poetry contest over a poetry-know-it-all who was SO sure she had the contest won that she stopped competing. The stories have characters we all knew or know as kids so readers will enjoy reading them. There is enough elements of fantasy and whimsy that the entire story is still understood to be a make believe fairy tale, such as the 1000+ page books the kids work from, the geothermal chemistry textbooks, and the purpoted past of the teacher, Mr. Jupiter (past jobs include working at the Coochie-Coochie school of Misbehaved Monkeys, teaching hula dancing at Balderdash Acadamy for Boys, and teaching Swahili as a second language in Switzerland). Who knows what Mr. Jupiter's past *really* is, but it's plain that he cares about the kids and the kids really respond to him. We checked this book out from the library but I will very likely buy a copy for my kids as I think it's one we'd like to reread many times. It would make a fun bedtime read for older kids or a great read-aloud in a classroom.

The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementry School was an instant like. I love the way that the author created the charachters by giving them funny names that reflected each charachter's personality/role, such as Paige Turner, (the librarian)Missy Place,(a girl who spontainiously loses her mittens again and again) and Mrs. Gluteal (the gym teacher). Each story has a moral to it like each of Aesop's fables. (Honesty is the best policy, slow and steady wins the race, etc.,etc.)There is a little bit of "gross stuff" like poop, burps, the like. As I read though, I got a profound feeling of how each charachter felt. The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementry School is a book I highly recommend to everyone!

These fabled fourth graders at Aesop Elementary School have a lot to learn morally. I looked forward to reading each chapter to see what these uncanny students were going to get themselves into and what moral was to be learned, such as "It is wise to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow." or "Appearances aren't everything." The chapter titles sometimes related to the real "Aesop's Fables", such as, The Boy Who Cried Wolf Monitor. The characters made me chuckle, such as Miss Paige Turner (librarian), Hamilton, Ham for short, Samich (enjoys food), Victoria Sovaine (pretty), Stanford Binet (smart), and Mrs. Playwright (drama teacher). This is a chapter book that I think boys would enjoy because it briefly mentions yucky stuff like "cooties" and "poop"(Hey, as long as they are reading!). I loved it. It will be available in my classroom for character building and enjoyment reading.

I bought this book for my niece as she started 4th grade. She loves it!

"It was hysterical, hilarious, as well as had good morals. It taught us good things and funny things that we enjoyed very much." These are the comments of my fourth graders that I just read the book to. They thought it was a great book and are wondering if there is a sequel. If so, they want to read it! Candace Fleming is a great author that engaged my students from the first chapter.