Schooling Around #1: Treasure Fever!

My 6 y.o. and I loved this book. We have never laughed so much while reading a book! This is Andy Griffiths' off-beat sense of humour at its best. Two storylines are intermingled in this book. The first (and funniest) is about class 5C and their substitute teacher, Mr Brainfright. Mr Brainfright is unconventional and really stretches the class' concept of what learning is and how you go about it. We LOVED Mr Brainfright and his antics, especially the historical re-enactment. The second storyline is about Henry McThrottle, a student of 5C, and his quest to find the principal's lost buried treasure. Lots of skulduggery and double-crossing take place during the search. This is an easy to read, fun book. I read this to my 6 y.o. at bedtime. Short chapters made it easy to find an appropriate place to stop for the night, though he would often ask for, "just one more chapter". I usually gave in because I was enjoying the story as much, if not more, than he was! As we were getting closer to the end of the book, my son picked the book up after school one day and started reading ahead. He just had to know if they found the treasure!

Henry McThrottle of Northwest Southeast Central School likes telling stories. Since his school is filled with crazy characters that live up to their names anyway, stories about school are great for him to tell. Take, for instance, the fact that Henry's principal, Principal Greenbeard, likes to run a tight ship--on dry land. And the fact that Principal Greenbeard used to just be a student at Northwest Southeast Central School, and when he was just a student, he liked to play pirates at recess. And he buried a treasure-that was stolen, and never recovered. Henry McThrottle never had so much fodder for a story as when he and his schoolmates were stricken with treasure fever and decided that this was the year they would find that treasure. This is one high-concept, easy-to-read, engaging middle reader. Think Captain Underpants without the bathroom humor, which is surprising considering that author Andy Griffiths is known for his book, The Day My Butt Went Psycho, which HAS to include bathroom humor, doesn't it? Just goes to show that you can't write off an author based on one series title. (I've never read about the Psycho Butt. Maybe it is wonderful. But my mom radar is pinging pretty loudly.) I will happily hand this wonderful, zany read (Treasure Fever not Psycho Butt) to my eight-year-old son whom I know will eat it up and laugh his head off. Yes, I'll have to check out the other book, too. It didn't make Griffiths a bestseller for nothing, did it? Armchair Interviews says: Wonderful read for Middle Readers.