Ms. Spell

by Ethan Long

An unorthodox teacher gives one of the most unforgettable spelling lessons ever in this zany adventure with eye-popping wonders as well as excellent spelling advice.

Poof! There is magic in the air, and readers will need to prepare themselves for some outlandish surprises—especially when Ms. Spell waves her wand to demonstrate the marvels of good grammar. The spelling review gets a bit out of control when a giant chocolate cake, zombie monkeys with laser-shooting eyes and the irate school principal get involved.

Filled with pointers on remembering commonly misspelled words, this rollicking picture book uses comic book format to make spelling less threating and more fun.

Genres: Picture Books, School, Childrens, Humor

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Ethan Long is a popular, award-winning and internationally recognized children's book author and illustrator with over 70 children's books, a Theodor Seuss Geisel Award and an Emmy-nominated television series to his credit. Just about all of his awake time is spent writing stories, drawing pictures and spending time with his family. Since graduating from Ringling College of Art and Design in 1991, Ethan has never stopped evolving, challenging his creative approach with each new project while constantly honing his instantly identifiable style. Born and raised in Central Pennsylvania, his childhood memories serve as inspiration for many of his drawings and stories. He currently lives with his wife and three children in beautiful Orlando, Florida, USA and flip flops seamlessly between being a world famous children's book author and a stay-at-home dad.

Reviews

[Maggie Mattmiller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute idea. Covers a number of similarly spelled/sounding words. I think there's just too much going on. I'm not sure kids would get the spelling benefit from this. It'll just seem like a silly book.

[Angie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Am I missing something with this book? It seems like something a 6th grader would write. The story is all over the place with random spelling thrown in there.

[Mia Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author Ethan Long is a Geisel Award winning author. Ethan Long takes us for a spelling adventure inside Ms. Spell's magical classroom. This is a F-U-N book to incorporate into your homeschool! Great language arts resource you can use to enrich your child's spelling lesson.

Ms. Spell is not your average teacher, with her classroom wand she takes her students for a magical spelling adventure! Ms. Spell also offers some great spelling tips that will help your child remember commonly misspelled words and makes those pesky spelling rules easy to follow!

Your child will have a blast with their spelling list for sure! Great read aloud, Mia and I give this book 5 starts our to 5!

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Commonly misspelled words are presented in a vivid story about a class getting ready to take a spelling test. The lessons of how to spell some classically difficult words most readers will find helpful, but they are randomly presented in a very active story so can come off slightly disjointed. The story itself is very clever and I think readers will enjoy the journey of learning to spell and use difficult words in a sentence. The end of the book provides some additional spelling rules and memory aides.

[Brittany Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Spell uses spelling words and a wand to make learning fun (and maybe even a little hazardous)! She will do anything to help her children learn and master their spelling words, even if it means turning children into monkeys. The children enjoy this and soon the room becomes chaotic!
This is such a fun book! I think that if I read this to a group of children, they would just laugh and laugh and laugh!! I think this would be great in the classroom during spelling lessons, or even use the words in it to have the same spelling test these students have!

[Cheryl Neer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ethan Long's main character, Miss Spell, is a fun loving and "punny" classroom teacher whose teacher's pointer frequently becomes a wand giving her students useful spelling strategies. The bright illustrations and frequent speech bubbles aid in giving this an early reader grapic novel feel. This book would be a fun addition to late first grade through early third grade Language Arts classrooms.

[Our Weekend Is Booked · Rating 2 out of 5]

We are big fans of Ethan Long's books but this one just missed the mark for us. I think part of the problem was it was too advanced for my younger son. It was explaining the difference between there, their and they're which it did in a great way, but we aren't ready to learn that. I might revisit this when my son is older.

[Heidi Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book teaches the correct way to spell everyday words that there are multiple spellings and variations of. If the reader uses the words correctly, the sentence that is put together comes true. This makes it a fun read, and provides a good lesson. There are so many people that still don't know how to use the right words at times, so teaching this at a young age is important.

[Justin Dolezal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ms Spell is about a spelling teacher who can grant wishes to those who spell their spelling words correctly. Although fun, it can turn hectic in an instant! Fun and silly read for young spellers and introduces fun new ways to learn how to spell and read in an early childhood classroom!

[Mo · Rating 2 out of 5]

For those learning how to spell words and differentiate between there/their/they're, to/too/two, and where/were/we're.

[Zack Rodgers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this would be good book for students to read on their own because they can look at each page and read it over multiple times. It was a little hard to follow without re-reading it.

[Peyton Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a story about a magical teacher who knew how to get her students involved and excited about the curriculum. This story was a great read and I cannot wait to read it aloud to my students!

[Teresa Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Spell's students are studying their spelling words, without much enthusiasm. Then the teacher uses a magic spell and the lesson takes an interesting turn. The spells turn wilder as they learn about homophones, different meanings of words, words that are frequently misspelled, compound words, contractions, and more. There's even a page on mnemonic devices to remember how to spell difficult words. Hints are given for successful spelling. Vibrant, energetic illustrations with lots of kid humor will enhance interest. I've enjoyed Ethan Long's exuberant math-related books. Now, clearly, he has turned his eye to spelling. Unfortunately, spelling concepts are not as concrete as math and this book is, therefore, not as successful. Nevertheless, it teaches some nice basic concepts in a very kid-friendly way.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps if there were more teachers like Ms. Spell, students wouldn't struggle so much with spelling. Aware that her students are dreading the planned spelling test, she waves a wand to transform objects and even a kid or two, offers several spelling useful tips, and causes quite a mess in the classroom. Readers will laugh at the flying monkeys and Mr. Goodhart, the principal, gingerly moving across the high wire. The digital artwork is filled with colors and lots of movement, and the endpapers feature a list of commonly misspelled words, spelling rules, and memory aids. It's all good fun while addressing a common issue for many who struggle with the difference between words such as there, their, and they're and to, two, and too.

[Christine Turner]

Great book for elementary school classrooms.

Poof! There is magic in the air, and readers will need to prepare themselves for some outlandish surprises, especially when Ms. Spell waves her wand to demonstrate the marvels of good grammar. The spelling review gets a bit out of control when a giant chocolate cake, zombie monkeys with laser-shooting eyes and the irate school principal get involved. An unorthodox teacher gives one of the most unforgettable spelling lessons ever in this zany adventure with eye-popping surprises as well as excellent spelling advice.

Subject:
English language -- Orthography and spelling -- Juvenile literature.
Vocabulary -- Juvenile literature.
Children's poetry, American.

[Marfita · Rating 1 out of 5]

Annoyingly didactic. Illustrations cute and cartoony.
Ms. Spell helps kids with their spelling list using her magic wand that takes the sentences kids make with the spelling words and makes them real. It gets out of hand and when the principal arrives, he only makes things worse. Of course. Typical, bloody typical of principals.
Hmmm, I'm making this sound more interesting than I thought it was.
I dunno. A kid might like it. Me, I know how to spell they're, their, and there. Ms. Spell's tips on remembering these "hard" words (they must be hard because adults can't seem to get them straight) might be useful to whatever age group is supposed to learn this.

[Jtimko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Join Ms. Spell as she teaches her students the ins and outs of spelling commonly misspelled words. Watch as her magic spelling stick wreaks havoc on the classroom and the students.
Bright colorful illustrations with a plethora of action in them make for a great read-aloud. If you are a struggling speller, this book will alleviate your fears about spelling. If you have problems with spelling, then the hints in this book will help clear some things up. If you just like funny picture books, this is a great one to read. Digitally created pictures make this a fun book to read and discuss. Recommended for purchase for grades 1 through 4.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this primary narrative non-fiction book about learning how to spell tricky and and frequently misspelled words, readers will join Ms. Spell as she and her class make their way through a spelling list that would send fears into many a student. Focusing on the homophone triplet sets, in addition to tricky starter blends like wh, readers will learn fun tricks to remember the differences, like which ones are contractions and which are not. Illustrations that make you feel as though you are in a cartoon, this is a wonderful addition to any school library.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

a nice book for the young spellers out there or is it their?? The author puts a fun twist on those hard to spell words. Lively and colorful illustrations and word bubbles will help struggling readers through this book.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Learning about commonly misspelled words.

[Mary Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

The design is too busy to be helpful for spelling.

[J. Jefferson · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is too much going on in the conversations between the teacher and her students. Her am is to teach about many commonly misspelled words, but it gets confusing and silly.