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TIMOTHY’S TALES FROM HILLTOP SCHOOL by Rosemary Wells

TIMOTHY’S TALES FROM HILLTOP SCHOOL

by Rosemary Wells & illustrated by Rosemary Wells

Pub Date: July 1st, 2002
ISBN: 0-670-03554-8
Publisher: Viking

Timothy and his classmates are back in this follow-up to Timothy Goes to School (2001) and they are as heartwarming and true-to-life as ever. Wells has a knack for portraying every character typically found in an elementary-school classroom: the bully, the spoiled princess, the quiet one, the less-than-physically-perfect, and captures their interactions perfectly. Six short vignettes covering such familiar topics as science projects, costumes, choosing the right birthday present, schoolyard sports, and teasing are accompanied by her trademark adorable bunny, cat, and beaver children in full-color spot illustrations. Fritz tries to build a particle accelerator out of toilet-paper tubes, even though the only one that’s ever been attempted cost $11 billion and still didn’t work; Nora must eat a whole box of Weeds & Seeds cereal to get the prize in the box for Yoko’s birthday present; Charles won’t give in to Claude’s bullying over who gets to be a bald eagle for Bird Day; Doris learns that health and strength are more important than being thin; Timothy and Claude have some baking mishaps during a measuring experiment; and Grace learns to be part of a team when she joins a few classmates inside the centipede costume during the Bug Week parade. Each story has a happy ending, and the trials the characters go through will be familiar to readers, letting them know that no matter what happens on the playground or in the classroom, they’re not alone. Be prepared to laugh out loud. (Fiction. 5-8)