School Lunch

by True Kelley

With their wonderful lunch-lady, Harriet, away on a tropical vacation, the school begins to hire new chefs to take her place, but when one culinary disaster after another takes place, the students, principal, and staff take action by writing, emailing, and telegramming Harriet to make her return to them before things get even worse!

Genres: Picture Books, School, Childrens, Food

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 8, 2005

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy did this book bring back memories! School lunches - sometimes you loved them, sometimes you hated them. I seem to remember the pizza bread being pretty good. Nice book that will tike you down memory lane.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really makes you appreciate everyone that works in the school system and what they do to keep the place functioning properly! I loved how the author wrote majority of the story through letters sent from various people! I feel the illustrations were ones where the reader would really student the small details. I liked how the illustrator made the illustrations bit just one scene but multiple (arms in 5 different angles to show that the characters arms were moving very fast).

[Emily Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

PB50 - I really enjoyed this book. It was so cute and would be a good book to use when teaching letter writing to students. There were lots of examples of letters and it would be something that I think a class could benefit from, as well as being entertaining.

[Jackie Pino]

The children at Lincoln School find out how lucky they are to have Harriet as a cook everyday at lunch. When she leaves for a vacation to a tropical island, the principal hires many substitute cooks, but none can live up to Harriet. The students and principal beg her to come back, but Harriet is pictured enjoying her time in paradise and acts as if she may never return.
A fun aspect of the storytelling of this book is that much of it is done through letters to Harriet from the students and the principal. As the children in the book tell Harriet about each new substitute cook, young readers will enjoy guessing what goes wrong with each. The fires, fish heads, and slimy slug pudding will keep them laughing, too.

[Gail Barge]

This is a really fun book about a cafeteria cook going on vacation. This book would be a good place to start a discussion on nutrition, as well as to study the nutritional content of a real school lunch (a good activity for older students). The book is mostly written through letters sent from the elementary school students which is really a neat structure for the book. This would be a good book to show to students when explaining the craft of interesting structures when writing.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harriet the lunch lady believes in serving healthy school lunches. The students are hard to please, but Harriet works hard at it and eventually burns out and needs a vacation. While she is gone the school hires a handful of cooks who don't work out for various humorous reasons.

I liked reading the letters Harriet received, though I think the letter-writing portion carried on a little too long. A bit too long for a read aloud, but an interesting book focusing on nutrition nonetheless.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harriet works hard to have healthy lunches that please all the students at school. This is difficult and she takes a much needed vacation. The students and principal send her letters, an e-mail and urgent telegram throughout her vacation letter her know about the substitute cooks are not working out. She comes back and is fully appreciated for her efforts and healthy food.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't typically rate picture books, but this one was sooo bad and tediously long that I just had to say something. It sucks. The kids lose interest. The younger ones don't get the format and my 5 year old actually asked why the lunch lady even went on vacation when she doesn't even work during the summer. We got it from a library and would be pissed if I bought that.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

46 months - The Lunch cook goes on an extended vacation and the substitutes produce less than acceptable lunches. The kids want their healthy lunches back. Good idea but wasn't so thrilled with the story or illustrations.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story about a school lunch lady who is burned out and takes a vacation and the antics the school goes through to replace her. The story is told through a series of letters and postcards sent back and forth from the students to the vacationing cook.

Great illustrations!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harriet, the lunch lady at Lincoln Elementary, takes a much needed vacation. Through a series of letters, we find out who the substitute cooks are and why they are not succeeding.

[Donnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who really appreciates the lunch lady? The kids at Lincoln Street Elementary learn the hard way to appreciate theirs, when she heads off to a tropical island and they have many strange substitutes.