Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind

My favorite author,(non-blog author, that is :0)Phillip Done has "done" it again! On September 4th, his second book, Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind, will be released.

His first book, 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny was fabulously entertaining & Close Encounters is just as good if not better.

Phil has been an elementary school teacher in the California public school system for over 20 years, so you know he has some stories! He has stories about children who make you want pull to pull your hair out & others who make you want to cry your eyes out.

In Close Encounters of the 3rd Grade Kind, Phil takes you on a heartwarming & hilarious journey through a year in the life of a 3rd grade teacher. From Back to School night to the End of the Year "celebration", Phil shares his experiences. And being the mother of a 2nd grader, I can most definitely relate!

I was caught laughing out loud when Mark decided to name a triangle, rectangle & a pentagon Joe, Frank & Bob (that sounds like a couple of the boys in Sass's class) & the chapters on Spelling & Speaking...I think he wrote just for me.

The story about auctioning a teacher as Halloween night chaperone just gave me an idea. (I know plenty of people at TWS that would pay $250 for someone to take their kids trick-or-treating!) And when his class was helping the kindergartners make macaroni necklaces, but Scotty wasn't going give his to his mother because 'she doesn't wear macaroni. she only wears diamonds' had me rolling! "How do you spell jigger?" reminds me of something that would probably happen at my house.

Mr. Done also knows what to do when asked 'what's E.D.?'

While I loved all the funny stories, I believe the tear-jerkers were my favorite. Robbie & the best present for a 9 year old boy, Rebecca & Max & when you get to the story about Michael, you better get out the big box of Kleenex.

If you are a teacher, in school to be a teacher, want to be a teacher, know a teacher, are a parent or even just know some children, you will LOVE this book. With all the distractions in the Semi-Slacker house, a book has to be good to keep my attention. I couldn't put this one down!