This Is the Teacher

by Rhonda Gowler Greene, Mike Lester (Illustrations)

This hilarious cumulative tale in the tradition of "The House That Jack Built" depicts a typical day at school. This is the teacher all ready for school. These are the students who rush through the door and topple the teacher all ready for school. The chaos continues&150and accumulates&150on each spread.An ant farm is tipped over, the birthday boy slips and spills his cupcakes, and then the class hamster escapes. . . . Through it all, the stalwart teacher manages to keep her cool. But, boy, is she ready for bed at the end of the day!

Genres: Picture Books, School, Childrens, Fiction, Back To School, Teachers, Humor

32 pages, Paperback

First published July 22, 2004

Reviews

[Natalie Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the Teacher is about a teacher who goes through quite a few trials during the school day. She begins all ready for school but is then toppled over by a lot of different things from ants to school lunches to paint cans. She leaves for the day exhausted and falls fast asleep in her bed.

I like this book a lot. It shows students and parents even that teachers go through a lot in a day. I would argue that this is pretty accurate to a teacher's everyday life. The only suggestion I have for the book is to make it a little less of a mouthful. This might be a good book to teach kids how to read because all of the words are simple to understand but it is a big mouthful which would make it challenging.

I plan to use this in a classroom environment. Not only is it a good book to teach children the rules for reading but it is also fun to read and teaches children about the challenges teachers endure through. I also plan to put this in my classroom library because I think kids will find this book to be very funny and cute! It will be a nice break for a lot of kids during SSR.

[Kayla Yirdaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book rather comical as a teacher who sometimes feels like the day is chaotic event after chaotic event.

However, do wish the author would have totally committed to rhyming or let it go altogether. This read a bit choppy because of the lack of commitment to consistency in rhyme throughout the book.

I cannot tell whether this book is for children or adults. It seems like a gift I’d give to another stressed teacher.

[Taylor Tomb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives a good insight for kids into what teachers go through. It was a little exaggerated but it was a good read. The book was made to make kids laugh and it definitely meet that expectation. The best part was how everything was a Rube Goldberg. This happened and in turn it caused this. This would be a good book to read someone to teach them about cause and effect in a silly manner.

[Sheila Moran · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written in the same style as "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", each step of this book had so much description that the domino effect gets a lost. The cadence of this book was choppy.

[Sydney Humphrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose this book because it is not a typical mother goose story. I think this book is cute and funny. I also thought it was very repetitive and it changed the plot in the middle.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written along the lines of This is the House that Jack Built, we see a poor teacher having one of those days where everything (and more) that can go wrong, will go wrong.

[Elle · Rating 1 out of 5]

An interesting twist on the original rhyme, The House that Jack Built, but just too long for some young readers.

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cute book. Many of my family members are teachers, and it is a pretty good description of how their days usually go.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how the teacher changes from the first of the day to the end of the day. Poor teacher.

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit like the house that jack built. It shows the exhaustion level of teachers 👩🏽‍🏫 I thought it was a bit exaggerated and may make new students a bit scared of school.

[Billingsl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book with lots of repetition and good illustrations.

[Alexis Vashon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was super cute and was a good depiction of how some days (or everyday) can be chaotic but still end up good!

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very funny and fun to read. I loved the illustrations and the way it showed how classrooms can operate

[Lneme2651ung.Edu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny little story that describes a day in the life of an elementary school teacher and all of the crazy things that can happen. I love this book because it is told in a repetitive manner and recaps the previous events in the story on each page. This makes for a good read aloud because it gets students engaged and involved, they can read along with the teacher. I could use this book to teach about story elements such as sequence of events, beginning middle and end, and onomatopoeia.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a funny cumulative story. The teacher is all ready for school and everything is fine until the students arrive. One careless incident leads to smashed lunches and a spilled ant farm along with the toppled teacher. Then one more thing creates another catastrophe which leads to another mishap, and on it goes. Funny illustrations, great rhyme and humour with a laugh-out-loud ending.

[Jaime Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is The Teacher is a book that would be perfect for teachers who are just having "one of those days". The main characters of the book are the teacher and all the students. The setting of the book is at a school and the point of view is from a narrator. The story begins with the teacher in her classroom waiting for school to start and then throughout the book more and more bad things start to happen. The students first spill their sack lunches, then they knock over an ant farm, then a snake for show and tell escapes from its cage and so on and so on. The book ends with the teacher finally getting home and going straight to bed. The book is written in a very interesting way. Each page mentions what was on the page before. So eventually, you're just repeating everything you read. I think it's really funny how it was written this way because it just draws attention to how crazy that school really is. The main ideas I got from this story is that school days are crazy and that you need to have self control. I recommend this book to every teacher out there because i'm sure all of them have experienced a school day where everything went wrong. I really liked the book, especially how it was written and all the pictures are really funny. Students don't realize how crazy they can make their teacher.

[Kacie Blakley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What book better depicts the everyday struggles of a teacher? Anyone that has been in a school setting can relate to the crazy events of this story. Just when it seems like the teacher is prepared to have a perfect day of school, one little bad thing leads to the next disgusting thing and the whole day is ruined! Cute and exaggerated drawings of the traumatic events make the book even more enjoyable. Having three sisters that are teachers, I have heard countless stories just like the ones portrayed in this picturebook. Although the book seems to be aimed towards teachers, students can get a good laugh from the silly events that happen throughout the book as well. The funny, cumulative story line might even help older children appreciate all their teacher does for them. We all have "one of those days" and "This is the Teacher" is an excellent, relatable story for all of us.

[Caroline Petty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is so lighthearted and humorous that it engages while also making children think about their behavior at school. It's a story that sequences and builds as each page progresses. It would be a good story to read and follow up with a discussion about how they should act at school that shows respect for both the teacher and their classmates. It could be used to highlight the fact that teachers and students should never feel exhausted or stressed out because of something that someone else has intentionally done. It can be used to promote classroom community and for teacher and student to demonstrate correct ways to interact with other people.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a FUN book about the day (or week) of a teacher who just can't seem to get a break. Chaos unleashes on every page! This would be a great tool in introducing different writing styles children can use. Even the font size of the book is interesting and shows that all text doesn't have to look the same. As the pages turn, the story builds upon what was previously said, which makes for a fun read aloud if students can keep up with it! It definitely gives the students a chance to see what a teacher goes through on a regular basis in a humorous fashion.

[Nausheen Ukani]

This is a pleasurable and humorous children's book that can be used for just some lighthearted fun as well as teaching specific literary elements, which makes it a wonderful book overall to have in the classroom. It's a story that can be used for teaching a sequence of events, and it can be used for several follow-up discussions and activities, especially about behaviors in school that are appropriate and respectfulness at school. It also can be used to talk about and teach literary elements such as repetitiveness, sequencing, and word sounds.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

When reading this book, all I could think about was Mr. Brown Can Moo Can you? By Dr. Seuss. It starts off with one thing and then it keeps adding on. And after a couple of pages, they start over. In the end, it makes the teacher all tired (like some of us can feel on any given day) and she falls into bed. The illustrations were cute and they had very good words, that would help them be more interested in words. Maybe if it was a K-2nd child, they would enjoy the book more.

[Asha Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminds me of the Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a fly. Its about the teacher who has a crazy day with her crazy students and all the things that happen to a teacher in a day or a week. It is hilarious the chain of events that happen to teachers. Its a fun book to read to students because they can see what teachers deal with on a day to day basis in a comical way. I loved this story because its so true, even with the 2 days of placement some of the craziest things happen in one day!

[Bekkah Riecke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea behind this book is cute and I like how it talks about the craziness of the school day. However, I feel like the book was more for teachers than for students. I don't think students would understand the humor nearly as much as teachers.

That said, it might be fun to have the book available during the beginning of the year or during a unit on careers.

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a silly cumulative tale about a teacher's crazy day at school. Little kids will giggle at all of the things that happen, and the ending with an exhausted teacher falling into bed and the end of the day. The rhyming text is a bit clunky and awkward, but the funny illustrations and crazy circumstances will win over young readers.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous children's book that tells the story from teacher's perspective. As a future teacher it was funny to read through and relate to some of her feelings. Not sure that I would use it as a read aloud, but still a great book to give to a fellow teacher!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute cumulative rhyming book about a day in the life of a teacher. A must read for all teachers who have ever had just "one of those days".

[Arwen Gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to read the first or second week or school from grades 1-3. The illustrations are great and the kids will try to predict the final line, and hopefully get the joke.

[Taylor Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny and very repetitive. The illustrations are great. Kids will love this book.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This is the teacher all ready for school," but is she ready for what the day will bring? A very funny book that builds on itself and will have readers laughing out loud at the things that happen!

[Rana · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUCH a funny book for teachers! Great even for students who might get a chuckle out of what they sometimes do to their teachers.