Lunch Money: And Other Poems About School

by Carol Diggory Shields

Twenty-three poems capture the experiences of schoolchildren, from running to catch the bus in the morning and an unruly pledge of allegiance to substitute teachers and recess rules.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens, School, Writing, Money

48 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1995

About the author

Carol Diggory Shields was inspired to write Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp after "being called a Nagosaurus by my five-year-old," she admits. "I started playing with the idea of partying dinosaurs who were scientifically accurate (more or less), and somehow in the prehistoric ooze of my brain, Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp took shape." Her rocking prehistoric party proved a hit with both young readers and critics. "Witty and imaginative, the poem has a rhythm that makes cumbersome multisyllable dinosaur names roll off the tongue," said Kirkus Reviews.
Currently a children's librarian, Carol Diggory Shields has also worked with children as a recreational therapist and at one time was a designer of stuffed toys. Her years of being around children have no doubt helped her get a feel for the fun-but-factual stories that kids love, told in animated verse with an infectious beat. After successfully collaborating with illustrator Scott Nash on Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp, she teamed up with him for Martian Rock, "the true story of how a meteorite from Mars arrived on Earth," she quips.
More recently, the pair worked together again on The Bugliest Bug, a wacky tale of an insect talent contest threatened by hungry spiders (disguised as judges) and a brave little Damselfy who saves the day. "Insects are awesome!," the author enthuses. "Every human invention, from catapults to jet propulsion, had already been invented and used by bugs for millions of years. And that's why to be 'bugly' is the ultimate compliment."
The author of several books for children, Carol Diggory Shields lives in northern California.

Reviews

[Katie Born · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book because it was one of my favorites growing up. Re-reading the book, I realized how funny the poems are. The book is a series of poems about school that each have a funny twist. The sarcasm in the poems could be confusing for kids, though, because I know that I did not understand the humor in some of the poems in this book until re-reading it as an adult. The poems about school are fun to read and the pictures paired with the poems are interesting to look at because there are many fine details in each picture that relate to the poem.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of many entertaining and humorous poems about school. The poems often make fun of many of the not-so-enjoyable parts of school, like recess rules, homework, and art projects. Colorful and detailed illustrations throughout.

[Ashlyn Ewert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. I thought it was fun to see what different parts of school that the poems talked about. I really liked the Whew poem. I thought it was funny cause all you want when your day isn't going right is a sub so you can have a more chill kind of day. Very cute book!

[Breyanna Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poem book on silly school-day adventures! A very enjoyable book with great enthusiasm.

[Haley Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book to use when going over poems!

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poems were cute

[Sam McKillop]

1. There are no awards for this book.
2. This book is appropriate for second or third grade.
3. I read the first six poems. "Eight-oh-three" is about having to rush to get out of the house on time in the morning to catch the bus that goes so slow. "Decisions" is about deciding whether or not to bring a bagged lunch or to pay for school lunch. "Lunch Money" is about trying to figure out where to get the lunch money needed to get lunch. "Pledge" is about children interrupting the Pledge of Allegiance. "Code" is about a young boy not going to school because he had a really bad cold. "And the Answer Is...?" is about one child who does not know the answer and another child who does.
4. These are really cute poems about the everyday life of a child in school. I find funny how realistic these actually are. I like the illustrations that go along with each of the poems.
5. They could write poems about their own experiences in school. They can act out "Pledge" with the teacher reading the actual Pledge of Allegiance while each student would have their own line to interrupt with.

[Emma Pruett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book to learn about school.

[Sophia Kanoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade/interest level: Upper Elementary (3rd -5th grade)
Reading level: Guided Reading Level O
Genre: Poetry

Main Characters: N/A, Everyday elementary school students
Setting: An elementary school
POV: From an elementary school student’s perspective

Summary: Carol Diggory Shields’ poetry book illustrated by Paul Meisel, Lunch Money and Other Poems About School, is a children’s poetry book filled with school themed poems. Each poem is about a certain aspect of an elementary student’s life at school. For example some poems discuss deciding whether or not to bring your lunch to school or buy lunch from the cafeteria, reciting The Pledge of Allegiance, and games on the playground during recess. All of the poems are from a student’s perspective in school. Majority of the poems are written in an A-B-A-B pattern, where every other line rhymes. Each poem is accompanied by a hand drawn illustration depicting the exact words in the poem, truly making the poem come alive. For example, one poem describes the school bus as a huge yellow dinosaur; Meisel vividly depicts a huge yellow dinosaur picking up students along the way to school. Overall this book is a great read, full of humorous poems.

Class Uses/Themes: I would use this book in my classroom as a read aloud during the first weeks of school, where I want children to begin to get comfortable with getting back into a school routine. I would also use this book during a poetry study unit during the literacy block. I would use this specific book to introduce students to the A-B-A-B rhyming pattern, where they will later be able to write similar patterned poems on their own.

[Jim Erekson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually don't appreciate collections of kids' poems by one author, because I really need to wade through a lot of poems by different voices before I find one that speaks to me. With a lot of tongue-in-cheek honesty about how kids view school, these poems do remind me a lot about the way adults see school (and church, and meetings, and work) as opposed to kids. It's an interesting theme for poetry. The best one for me was "Book Report", the last poem in the book. Will I get in trouble for re-typing it here? I guess only if too many people read it ;-)

Book Report
This was a very, very, very nice book.
The story was very, very, very, very good.
16 words
You would like it very, very much
If you read it, and I think you should.
32 words
The plot was very, very interesting,
About some kids who were very good friends.
Finally got to 50 words,
if you count...
THE VERY, VERY END

[Camille]

Lunch Money is a very funny book about differnet things that happen at school.The book derscribes things that happen in school, such as saying the pledge, writing essays,having a crush on someone,having a class pet,ect.
One thing I just love about this book is the poems are very humorous and true. Meaning whatever the poem described,they are actual events that take place in schools today.
One thing I disliked about this book, was that the book was very short. I wished that it could have been longer, so I could laugh more.For this book i think the intended audeinces were children in school,or someone who loves childern.I also think this book would be good for people who love to reflect back on their school days and what they missed about them.
I would compare this book maybe to The Magic School Bus or Juni B. Jones, because they all sound very similar. I think these books are alike because they all show things that can happen to you in school. They also can help you reflect on those old memories of your school years and make you laugh.

[Sydney Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This week I'm doing my review on the poem "Who Needs School?" from this collection. This poem was about a kid who was talking about all of the subjects in school and comparing them to electronic devices or sources that they had. For example one of the lines was "This spell-checking program makes spelling a laugh. No need to write, since I got a printer." I think that this poem kind of shows a kids mentality about school now since technology is starting to grow, especially in schools. When I was younger I agreed with a lot of things this kid was talking about, like not needing to learn how to do math because my calculator could do it for me, but now I think that we still need to learn how to read, write, and do math on our own because they are important life skills. The last two lines of the poem were "I don't need friends, 'cause I have Nintendo. Just don't unplug me and I'll be fine." I think that this shows how much technology is starting to take over kids lives now.

[Pearl Ibeh]

How would your like to read poems about how its like at school? If you said yes then Lunch Money is a great choice for you. Written by Carol Diggory Shields and illustrated by Paul Meisel, Lunch Money is and hilarious book about the adventures in school in poem form. I like this book because it is so alike how school is for me and one of my favorite poems in the book, Amanda, is just like how my English teacher used to be when she was little (and her name is Amanda too!)I didn't dislike this book at all, each poem make me feel like I was going to wet my pants because they were funny. It is much similar too My Dog Ate My Homework. If you like school and poems too than this is a book that you should read. The book should be read by young kids. Go read it!!!!!:)

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author: Carol Diggory Shields
Illustrator: Paul Meisel
Genre: Poetry
Grade Level: 2.8
Lexile: None

Summary: This book is a collection of poems based on school experiences. These range from Late to School to lunchtime experiences and everything in between. The poems provide humor and sarcasm to basic everyday occurrences. This is a great poetry resource to have in your classroom. All the poems are easy to relate to and are about some part of school.

[Jason Obiefule · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lunch Money by Carol Diggory Shields is one of the greatest poem books I have ever read. It is organized, funny, & educational in some ways. What I Love the most about this book is everything!! Although my favorite was the poem - "Decisions" when the boy said I think I'll bring my lunch, after he named all the lunches. Althought I like all the poems.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a poem book that uses some math vocabulary. I would use this book to show different writing styles and the use of math vocabulary in writing. Writing in math is something that I have researched and learned to be extremely helpful to student comprehesion of math concepts and problem solving.

[Alena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry - This is a cute collection of poems about school and things that happen in school. The children find the poems hilarious and they beg for them to be read over and over.
This is a good book to use for poetry lessons because they don't always rhyme. It is hard for younger children to realize that poetry doesn't always rhyme.

[Mallory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, Lunch Money, is composed of a bunch of different poems of the struggles of a typical child in school. The themes are adventure, struggles, and very funny. The genres are poetry, picture book, and the age group is kindergarten to eighth grade. I gave it a 5 out of 5 because it is full of many funny poems of what children think different situations in school are like.

[Savanna Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't as funny as the other poetry book I read, but I did find it quite enjoyable. It tells the story of a child's day at school through poems. It was funny and easy to understand. The imagery used in the poems here was fantastic. I would suggest this book to potential teachers.

[Kaytee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a big fan of poems but this book of poems was great. It kept me interested until the last page. I learned that there are other kids out there in this world that think school is not fun. This book allowed me to read poems from another childs perspective.

[Allison Melowsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was always a favorite on my independent book shelf. The light-hearted, relatable poems in this poetry book about school. I enjoyed the colorful illustrations and how well they exhibited the nature of each poem.

[Sarah M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book of poems about school. It added a little humor to events that take place at school. It approaches situations students face at school in a comical way so that children will enjoy reading it.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was so cute. All the poems are about school and I really think kids from 1st to 4th grade would really appreciate the humor, rhythm and rhyme.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a quirky, hilarious group of poems children will love to read themselves or hear told aloud. The illustrations are bright and interesting. A must have book for a teacher!

[Tierra Garr]

Its a funny poem book about school. My personal favorite is the "Pledge."

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to get the students excited about school each day. Also, it has a variety of rhymes schemes, phonics, and such.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book of poems about school. I'm sure we will use it as a mentor text.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute illustrated poems about school. Also has many interesting examples of word choice, hyperbole, and irony that could be used in writing lessons as well as reading comprehension lessons.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Potential Problems: None.
Personal Response: There were a few poems I really liked, like Code and Swap.

[Allie Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of poetry has different poems about what children experience at school. Students can create their own poem about school.