THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING TEACHER

Miss Irma Birnbaum, “the toughest teacher in town” and star of Passen’s Attack of the 50-Foot Teacher (2000), returns in this hilarious end-of-the-school-year adventure. The story opens with an assignment: “Be prepared for a surprise,” says Miss Birnbaum, who sports a silver beehive hairdo and cat-eye glasses. The children think she’s planning a pop quiz. The truth is, she’s planning a party. But Miss Birnbaum is about to get a surprise of her own. That night, while preparing party food in the school cafeteria, Miss Birnbaum slips and falls “right into the prune pudding, kidney bean cookies, and brussels sprout juice.” Passen’s comical watercolors reveal Miss Birnbaum bathed in a golden glow. The knobby-kneed teacher has begun to shrink. Pretty soon, she can barely open the cafeteria door, and a trip to the library to find a cure reveals bookshelves as big as skyscrapers. Back in the classroom, a scary encounter with “Zippy” the class hamster (who’s now her equal in height) forces Miss Birnbaum to spend the night running on the wheel in his cage. Miss Birnbaum escapes in the morning but she’s almost crushed by the gigantic children who roam the hallway. Luckily, “Johnny O’Leary’s” lunch falls out of his backpack, his cupcake lands on Miss Birnbaum, and Johnny and friends discover the “yucky” stuff stuck in the icing is really their teacher. The students rush Miss Birnbaum to the principal’s office, where she returns to normal size after falling in the fish tank. With their teacher saved and pizza and cake replacing prune pudding at the party, the children are delighted. Expect the unexpected in this purely pleasurable tale. (Picture book. 4-8)