Apple Island, or the Truth About Teachers:
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Apple
Island, or the Truth About Teachers
Front Street Books
Fall 1998 $14.95 144 pages 5 1/2 x 8 1/4
32 b&w illustrations
Ages 8 to 12
ISBN 1-886910-25-1
Reprinted: PHP Japan 2000, Scholastic Book Clubs 2002
Book Description: Bradley doesn't like school. It's boring. And his teacher, Mrs. Gross is crabby. And something is terribly wrong. It all starts when Mrs. Gross introduces a new type of math in which 6x9=54, but upside-down, 9x6=54. Then she tell the students they don’t have to use any silent letters in their spelling lessons. "Friend” is “frend” and “have” becomes “hav”. Bradley is dumbfounded and vows to get to the bottom of it. He finds a book called the Truth About Teachers that tells about Apple Island, where all teachers come from. The good teachers built an ark and came to America to set up school. The crabby ones followed them with a sinister plan. When Mrs. Gross kidnaps the classmates and whisks them off to Apple Island, it’s up to Bradley to navigate the island’s pitfalls to save his friends and school children everywhere.
Author Comments: This was my favorite book to write and read to children. It was fun spoofing my profession and the sacrosanct activities we do in classrooms. Why do we say Sh! to quiet students?
Table of contents: 1. The School Day Begins 2. In Class 3. The Teachers' Lounge 4. The Field Trip 5. Apple Island 6. Teacherville 7. Crossing the Grand Playground 8. The Teacher's Pet 9. Mr. Janitor 10. The Mines 11. Office Palace 12. Prince Apple 13. Purple Lake 14. Meeting Miss Library 15. The Truth About Teachers 16. Teacher City 17. S.C.H.O.O.L. 18. The Assembly 19. Rescue 20. Colorful Rain 21. The School Day Ends