A Fine, Fine School

This book is sort of a mix between realistic fiction and fantasy. It mixes the two in that it is very believable. There is a girl with a younger brother and a dog with very believable actions and interactions and a principal that is very proud of his school. But it sort of gets in to fantasy when

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it talks about having school on weekends and holidays, just because that would never really happen. But I would classify this as realistic fiction because of how real the characters seem.
Age Appropriateness: Primary, Intermediate
Media: Charcoal, crayon

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I liked the drawings alot! I enjoyed the book v ery much

Grade: K-5
Genre: Fiction
Themes: Motivation, Learning all around us
Mr. Keene loves his school and teachers and students. He decides that school must happen move often and makes children go to school all year long (Sat., Sun., Holidays, & Summer). Tillie, a student tells Mr. Keene that they do have a

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fine, fine, school but she is not learning all that she needs to learn. She is not learning how to climb a tree or sit in it. Mr. Keene then really looks at the school and learns that not all learning takes place in a classroom and changes school hours back the way they were. The pictures are bright and colorful. Cute read aloud to the class.
I enjoyed this book because I could use it at the beginning of the year for fun. It would be good to use as a teachable moment too, when kids aren't motivated and to let them know that they learn everywhere. It also shows how siblings need each other to learn.

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On weekends, redheaded Tillie climbs trees and teaches her little brother how to skip. During the week, of course, she goes to school. Her principal, Mr. Keene, is the kind of gung ho leader any school would be lucky to have. That is, until he goes a little over the top. "Oh!" he says. "Aren't

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these fine children? Aren't these fine teachers? Isn't this a fine, fine school?" And then this exuberant administrator decides five days isn't nearly enough for such a fine school. "From now on, let's have school on Saturdays, too!" The teachers and students are not thrilled, but no one is willing to burst Mr. Keene's bubble. Soon their well-meaning principal has done away with weekends, holidays, and summer vacation. It's time for someone to take action... gently, though. Young Tillie has just the right amount of subtlety and tact--and motivation--for the job.

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"A Fine, Fine School" written by Sharon Creech with pictures by Harry Bliss, unveils an animated story of an over-enthusiastic principal who declares that every day should be a school day, even on the weekends, holidays and during summertime. Adoring students and teachers cannot bear to break their

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principal's heart, so they comply. Finally, the main character Tillie, a young scholar who lives nearby the school with her parents, her little brother, and their dog Beans, brings it to the principal's attention that the students and teachers and parents cannot possibly keep up with his enduring pace. The entire town celebrates, hoisting the principal up on their shoulders and parading around town, while Tillie her brother, and her dog Bean embrace!

A wonderful story with repetition to love and illustrations to celebrate!

Themes: Dedication, enthusiasm, balance, first day of school, pride, education and values.

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Genre: Realistic Fiction

This book is a good example of realistic fiction because it is a very real story that could take place in our lives very easily. The protagonist, Tillie, goes to school, climbs trees, plays with her brother and dog, which are all things that children do every day. This books

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setting isn't extremely important and could change. As long as it took place in Tillie's home and school, it could be in any part of the world, with any type of weather.

Level: Primary

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stars for theme

This book is a good example of realistic fiction, because all the characters are believable and human, but they try unrealistic goals, and in the end realize that their goals were unrealistic. The author uses many run-on sentences, which made the book frustrating for me to read out

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loud. The moral of the story was great though, that learning happens outside of school too! Its a good thing to discuss with students. This book would be great for primary readers.

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Genre: Modern Fantasy

Critique of Genre: This is an excellent example of modern fantasy because things happen that could not really happen in real life. For example, a principal decides to have school all year long, even on the weekends, holidays, and in the summer!

Age: Primary,

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Intermediate

Critique of Setting: (See star rating above)

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Primary
Genre: Realistic Fiction- This story was realistic in that all the children were going to a great school with great teachers and a great principal. It was fiction because principals alone don't have the authority to make students go to school all year round and on holidays.
Plot: The plot was

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that they kept having more and more and more school. It was really hard for them to keep having school and finally the principal gave them back their weekends and holidays.

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This story is about a principal who realizes that his school is a fine, fine school and that his teachers are great teachers and also has great students too. The principal is so happy about this school that he decides to have school on the weekends, which no one is really happy about. After a while

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he has the students come to school on holidays and even over the summer! Students and teachers are always in school all day every day. Finally a little girl named Tillie goes to the principal and tells him that she hasn't really been learning. Her dog hasn't learned to sit, her brother hasn't learned to skip and she hasn't learned to climb up a tree and sit. Finally the principal decides to have school go back to the normal routine. This is a great story and a funny story to read for students and also a nice book for teachers to enjoy too.

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Genre: Fantasy
Age: Primary
Media: acrylic paint
Review: In reality, a principal of a school could not decide to have the school open all the days of the year. It would have to be run through the district and the school board before that was decided. The author makes this believable because principals

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do want their students to learn and grow more.
Point of view: 3rd person omniscient because you know what the principal is thinking, and also Tillie and other students. The narrator is "overlooking" the story.

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I really like this book, the story is funny, and the pictures are hilarious. High interest for younger students, but possibly could be used for a discussion prompt for older students. Could be used for first week of school story to help students appreciate ONLY going to school 5 days a week. Could

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prompt a discussion of what kinds of things students learn at home vs. at school, why both are important, and how much school is necessary.

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School-age children will enjoy hearing the story of Mr. Keene, the principal who is so proud of his fine, fine students and fine, fine teachers and all the wonderful learning that goes on at his school that he decides that more must be better. As he decides to have school open on Saturdays, then on

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Sundays, then on holidays, then over summer vacation, it takes one brave little girl to help him realize that learning doesn't just take place in school. Bright, expressive illustrations by Harry Bliss add much to this story's humorous charm.

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This is a realistic fiction book for elementary students. The book starts out with normal school days. The principal wants the school to be the best one and accomplish the most earning so he starts assigning school on Saturday, then Sundays, and holidays. He thinks the children are learning so much

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that he even wants them to come during summer. School everyday of every year so the students can learn as much as possible. The principal thinks this is the greatest thing he has ever done for his fine school. One day Tille went to tell him some kids weren't learning.The kids were not learning how to climb tree and the dogs were not learning new tricks. They needed time away from the classroom and so the principal granted that time for other types of learning.

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Sharon Creech writes this children’s book about a girl named Tilly. Tilly goes to a school where the principal is super proud of his school and always wants to be in school! First he extends schools to Saturdays too, and then Sundays, holidays and eventually summer too! Sharon Creech using great

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examples of run-on sentences to emphasize how often they are in school and the long lists of everything they are learning throughout the book. Eventually Tilly talks to the principal about how important it is to learn other things too outside of school, like how to climb trees, teach younger brothers how to skip, and teach dogs to skip. This book is a cute message that reinforces the importance of school, but also family and fun. Creech does a great job relating to students who would dread having school every single day of the year. Harry Bliss illustrates this book with unique characteristics. Bliss does a terrific job at emphasizing the emotions of characters on each page and helping the words come to life through illustrations.

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Loved the message, loved the illustrations. Makes a very definite point, but with aww - how cute" humor."

When faced with a problem, the character really knows how to sway her audience.

Lexile: AD300

This story is about a principal who loved learning so much he decided to have school everyday. The students did not know how to tell the principal they did not like this idea, because he was so proud and excited finally. Finally Tillie informs the principal that not everyone is learning, because

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learning also takes place outside of school. GENRE: contemporary realistic fiction. USES: teach learning happens everywhere, illustrations. MEDIA: ink and watercolor.

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Wonderful book to start the year. The Principal loves the school and students so much that he thinks school should be on Saturdays and then holidays. Tillie is a brave little girl and gently tells the Principal that she learns outside of the school day too and she misses her little brother.

First sentence: Mr. Keene was a principal who loved his school. Every morning he strolled down the hallway and saw the children in their classes. He saw them learning shapes and colors and numbers and letters. He saw them reading and writing and drawing and painting. He saw them making dinosaurs

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and forts and pyramids. "Oh!" he would say. "Aren't these fine children? Aren't these fine teachers? Isn't this a fine, fine school?"

Premise/plot: What happens when Mr. Keene, the school principal, gets CARRIED away with the idea of having a fine, fine school??????? Mr. Keene is so incredibly proud of how wonderfully FINE his school is, that he always has to push, to strive to make things even better. But is there such a thing as TOO much????

My thoughts: I really LOVED this one so much. I can't believe I'm only now discovering this one. I had no idea Sharon Creech ever wrote picture books. So what led me to seek this one out? to discover it? I saw that there is a sequel coming SMART, SMART SCHOOL. The premise to that one sounds awesome. I knew I needed to go back and pick this one up.

This is a funny picture book that I'd recommend to teachers and students.

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