No, it isn’t Pillars of the Earth, World Without End or even Dr. Zhivago.  Those books are all great reads, and I’ve read the first two this summer, and I’m currently reading the third one.

But I’m rambling.  Again.

I’m talking about a children’s book.  This particular children’s book is one that I start off every school year with. 

Here it is…

Drum roll please…

  Don’t Eat the Teacher written by Nick Ward.

This fabulous story is about Sammy the Shark’s very first day at school and his “unfortunate habit (as all young sharks do) of biting things” when he gets very excited.  You’ll follow Sammy through his school day as he learns many new lessons.  At the end of the day Sammy’s mom asks him what he has learned on his first day of school.  Guess which is the most important lesson of all? 

It is a sweet, simple, very funny story that grabs those little preschoolers’ attentions right away.  It’s predictable, and they can guess what might happen next, so it provides interaction with the students who are just beginning to know me as their teacher.  I like that it gives my preschoolers the confidence to speak up and contribute at storytime, right from the beginning of the school year. 

My copy is 10 years old.  It was my son’s book when he was little.  It is dog-eared, colored in, and torn in some spots.  It is a well-loved book, and I may have to put it into retirement and purchase another copy. 

So get yourself over to the library and “check it out.”  (I think that was a Reading Rainbow line.)  Watch those Scholastic Book Orders for it, or I think you can find it used here.

Enjoy!

Mrs. V