Ms Daisy is Crazy (My Weird School series) – A review

Miss Daisy is Crazy
(My Weird School)
Dan Gutman

A teacher who doesn’t know how to spell and read, or add and subtract. Weird, isn’t it? Well it should be, since this is the first book of the ‘My Weird School’ series by Dan Gutman.

Miss Daisy takes second grade by surprise when on the first day of school she confesses she doesn’t know how to read or spell. She furher confesses that she doesn’t know any math too. Teacher-student roles get reversed as the children begin to help Ms Daisy learn the basics. Meanwhile, AJ, a second grader who hates school, has a brilliant idea that of buying the school and converting it into a gaming arcade. The principal doesn’t quite agree but does strike a deal – ‘Read one million pages and you get to convert the school into a gaming zone for a day’. As an add-on he agrees to dress up as a gorilla that day!

The school goes into a frenzy of reading and AJ’s dream comes true. But what about Ms Daisy? Can she really not read or is she putting on a show? AJ never does get to know.

Meet the characters!

My Weird School is a delightful series for reluctant readers. Written in first person by AJ, they offer a quick connect. Which child doesn’t hate school at some point? Or dream of converting it into a gaming arcade? No patronising or moralising here and the kids come away with a vocabulary that’s richer by a word or two. The book is best suited for children starting out on chapter books.

Note: You might also like to try other books in the series Ms Hannah is Bananas or Ms Lilly is Silly.

Note 2: This series is tried and tested successfully on two very reluctant readers.

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