Story Time: Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Story Time with LENikki and I hope you’ll join us today for Story Time with Literary Escapism, a bi-weekly feature where we showcase various children books that fall directly in the fantasy & science fiction genres, as well as books we’re enjoying with our young children. We’re talking boardbooks, picture books, those books labeled as beginner or newly independent readers, and middle grade – anything of interest to those readers who are not quite ready for the young adult genre. So we hope you’ll join us on the carpet as we share the stories that have captured our little ones imaginations.

The older I get, the more I realize how much of a geek I was growing up. I never really thought of myself that way. Yes I was a bookworm, but that’s as far as I went. However, since I’ve started looking for books for the Monkey to read, I’ve been coming across old favorites of mine that were really big hints.

We’re just now getting into the chapter books and during my perusal I found Wayside School by Louis Sachar.

Does anyone else remember these crazy books? It was the cover for the first one, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, that triggered my memories; but it didn’t take me long to find all the rest. They have new covers, but the covers convey the same quirkiness that makes these stories true classics.

LSachar-Sideways Stories from Wayside SchoolThe series starts off with Sideways Stories from Wayside School, where we’re introduced to Todd, who has just transferred to Wayside School. Including the two sequels – Wayside School Is Falling Down and Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger – we get to see how truly deranged this school actually is and how much fun it probably would have been to actually go there.

A Crazy Mixed-up School.

There’d been a terrible mistake. Wayside School was supposed to be built with thirty classrooms one on top of the other…thirty stories tall! (The builder said he was very sorry.)

That may be why all kinds of funny things happen at Wayside SChool…especially on the thirteenth floor. You’ll meet Mrs. Gorf, the meanest teacher of all, terrible Todd, who always gets sent home early, and John who can read only upside down–along with all the other kids in the crazy mix-up school that came out sideways. But you’ll never guess the truth about Sammy, the new kid…or what’s in store for Wayside School on Halloween!

There was a terrible mistake-Wayside School was built with one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high! (The builder said he was sorry.) Maybe that’s why all kinds of funny things happened at Wayside-especially on the thirteenth floor.

LSachar-01.Sideways Stories From Wayside SchoolLSachar-02.Wayside School Is Falling DownLSachar-03.Wayside School Gets A Little StrangerLSachar-04.Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside SchoolLSachar-05.More Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School

However, we’re not done there. We can’t just have one view of this crazy school. In Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School, we’re introduced to yet another new student, Sue, and along with More Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School, we get to see Mrs. Jewls unique teaching method for mathematics.

“Everyone take out your spelling books,” said Mrs. Jewls. “It’s time for arithmetic.”

Sue is so excited for her first day at Wayside School. But things at Wayside are far from normal-and Sue’s teacher, Mrs. Jewls, is completely wacky. She expects the students to add and subtract words! Sue has never heard of anything so ridiculous. She knows adding apples plus oranges is impossible…or is it? Anything can happen at Wayside School.

Did you know it was even turned into a movie?!

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.