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Readers mourned when fourth grade was over for Mr. Jupiter and his fabled bunch of wacky students, but they will rejoice this year as the entire gang is back again with their favorite teacher for their last year at Aesop Elementary.
Continuing their episodic adventures with Mr. Jupiter, each ingeniously named student learns a new “moral” lesson in every chapter. Not only do the students continue to be true to their names (“Ham” Samitch still has the appetite of a Saint Bernard, and Missy Place continues to be absentminded), but we now get the opportunity to learn more about the other teachers: Mr. Halfnote prints musical notes which function as fake money for his emporium, and Ms. Bozzetto introduces the children to an art project involving a live cat and guinea pig. Each chapter is a different adventure told chronologically through the school year until graduation.
Although some of the comic references and plays on words, especially those related to the character names, may go straight over a young reader’s head, the entire book begs to be read aloud with laughs and lessons in every chapter. The online teacher’s guide features a multitude of ideas to use this fun novel in writing projects and cartoon drawing, all of which focus on scenarios which ultimately teach a lesson.
Give this to students who enjoyed the Fabled Fourth Graders; give it to fifth-grade teachers; give it to anyone who wants to sit back and simply enjoy a fun book, and perhaps learn a lesson along the way without even knowing it!
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The Fabled Fifth Graders of Aesop Elementary School