By Candace Fleming
Schwartz & Wade Books, 2010
$15.99, ages 7-11, 176 pages
Only one adult is willing to take on the crazy fifth-grade kids at Aesop Elementary: their teacher from last year, Mr. Jupiter, a wry fellow who appreciates what it means to be different.
But how will Mr. Jupiter get through to kids who've driven every other teacher at Aesop up the wall? Will one man's pain truly be another man's pleasure, as the moral goes?
In this hilarious followup to the 2007 hit The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School, Mr. Jupiter's class returns a year later, but with as many quirks as ever.
Through 12 laugh-out-loud fables, Fleming follows the crazy adventures of these unique yet relatable 10-year-olds as they learn to do weird body tricks, conjure up a rain storm and care for a pet Burmese guinea pig with a melodious "eek."
Fleming's fast-paced sequel celebrates the adventure of learning, or as Mr. Jupiter would say, "doing boldly what you do at all."
