Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Book Review

I remember reading the first Wayside School book as a child. When my oldest could read it, I bought it for him. I totally forgot about the series until I came across it cleaning his room. He had squirreled it away to his room and hidden it on his bookshelf for his personal collection. He has the first 3 Wayside School books. I thought the other two boys would like the book too. And I was right.

All of the kids in Mrs. Jewls class were the 8-year olds new best friends. He can tell you the special qualities of each kid and thinks that I remember each and every story like he does (I read the book, but I only remember a few of the names.) I think he has read Sideways Stories from Wayside School about a dozen times now.

What We Liked

We like the short chapters, usually one per student in the class. We can easily read 3-4 of the stories before bedtime. My son will now pull out the book at school and read a random chapter when he has finished his work.

My favorite story is the first chapter, “Mrs. Gorf”. It has a bit of dark humor to it that I like.

My youngest has a had time picking just one. “Paul” has to be one of his favorites because he mentions his pulling of Leslie’s pigtails a fair amount.

Audiobook

We did not listen to the audiobook.

Movie Tie-In

There is a TV movie, Wayside School movie from 2005 on Peacock. It shows most of the students from the book, but only Mrs. Jewls no Mrs. Gorf. The main movie story-line about a trash compactor is not in the book, but most of the students described are in the classroom. If you pay attention there is a lot of detail from the book in the background of the movie.

The Verdict

This is a must read. My 3rd grader reads this book over and over again.