The Gym Teacher from the Black Lagoon

Rating:
Summary: Laps
Review: There is gym teacher, and he makes you run laps. First around teh gym, then around the school, then around the world. He's a rude one, but once you come, he ends up being nice.

Rating:
Summary: Best for First Graders
Review: There is a new gym teacher in school. His name is Mr. Green. All the big kids say you run alot. They ran around the school once. Mr. Green even makes you pick up his pickup truck. He makes you do it by the end of the semester. If you don't pass the fitness test, your body is donated to the science lab. He has a little office full of balls, clubs, and tires. The gym teacher even sets the climbing rope on fire if you don't climb to the top. Find out what's going to happen next. Will he be donated to science, or will Mr. Green set the bottom of the rope on fire?
We give this book a four out of five. We would recommend this book to 1st graders and maybe some 2nd graders, because it is a short book and 1st graders are just learning how to read.

Rating:
Summary: Worry, Worry, Worry: Is Mr. Green ALL that bad?!
Review: This entertaining book with humorous and compelling illustrations by Jared Lee takes us on a tour of one little boy's thinking and wildly outlandish imagination process as he is getting prepared for his new gym teacher on the first day of school.

Everything becomes larger than life.... just like when children and adults are fearful and the fear turns into worry in anticipation of that "thing" you fear. Included examples of who the new teacher reportedly resembles are "Coach Kong" and a wielder of Crazy Glue during a game of Tag.

My daughter and I had great discussions about the literal thinking: Cart Wheels.... you see a cart with wheels which the children are supporting, headstands are children balancing on their heads, and a baseball game played with real (as in black things flying through the air with fangs shining and ready to bite.... Not frighteningly for the reader though our protagonist has the ever familiar deer in the headlights look.

The best is the ending: a reminder that most worry is ill placed after all....as our friend enters the gymnasium to a much different reality than the one he had colorfully imagined.

You can read this book "just for fun" or deepen the experience by engaging your child in conversation about the negative impact of worry, adding meaning that isn't there and how getting real is what is always the most empowering.

Rating:
Summary: Best for First Graders
Review: This latest addition in the Black Lagoon series is very cute. As usual, a little kid hears all about a new teacher from the BIG kids. They say all kinds of funny, exagerated things about the new teacher, who, in fact, turns out to be really cool (as do all the Black Lagoon teachers!). Some good humor and funny pictures...adults who were once scared of getting a new teacher will enjoy it the most.

Rating:
Summary: Cute for grown-ups, too
Review: This latest addition in the Black Lagoon series is very cute. As usual, a little kid hears all about a new teacher from the BIG kids. They say all kinds of funny, exagerated things about the new teacher, who, in fact, turns out to be really cool (as do all the Black Lagoon teachers!). Some good humor and funny pictures...adults who were once scared of getting a new teacher will enjoy it the most.