about the book
The story’s narrator, a young, tousle-haired first-grade boy, has been many different things in his short life. He has been hungry. Soaking wet. Four years old. Ridiculously bored. A mostly regular kid. And extremely embarrassed.
Why? He called his teacher “Mommy.” The WORST! Everyone laughed, even his best friend. His teacher kindly tells him not to worry, and that he certainly hasn’t been the first first-grade student to call her Mommy, but it really doesn’t matter. The damage has been done.
As he cannot use magic and has no access to a time machine to go back and undo everything, our narrator decides the only thing he can do is drop out of school. So long, Lakeview Elementary!
However, with some help, our narrator will see that even the most embarrassing things can be gotten over.
about the author
Audrey Vernick grew up with two older sisters in Whitestone, New York. She went to P.S. 184Q, and has an astounding memory about her fellow classmates from childhood, down to how she compared to them in size.
While Audrey has always loved to read (with Harriet the Spy being one of her favorites of all time), she hasn’t always wanted to be a writer. Being a writer happened during college—and ever since graduating, she has been a writer. She got her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and has been awarded two fiction fellowships from the New Jersey State Council of the Arts.
Audrey, her husband, their two kids, and their two dogs—one gray and one black—live near the ocean in New Jersey.
Source:
Author website
Also by Audrey Vernick:
Unlike Other Monsters. Disney-Hyperion. July 2016.
I Won a What? Knopf Books for Young Readers. April 2016.
The Kid from Diamond Street : The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton. Clarion. March 2016.
Edgar’s Second Word. Clarion. 2014.
Bogart and Vinnie : A Completely Made-Up Story of True Friendship. Walker Books for Young Readers. 2013.
So You Want to Be a Rock Star. Walker & Company. 2012.
Brothers at Bat : The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team. Clarion. 2012.
Teach Your Buffalo to Play Drums. Balzer + Bray. 2011.
Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? Balzer + Bray. 2010.
about the illustrator
Born to a long line of auto mechanics and car lovers, Matthew Cordell naturally was interested in skateboarding and something called “Art.” Naturally.
Matthew’s earliest memory is of the time his older brother’s first grade teacher, Ms. Sanders, got a hold of one of his drawings—George Washington on a horse. Ms. Sanders was really impressed by the drawing, and the satisfaction of that feeling has never left Michael.
After all his schooling was over and done, Matthew felt that his home state of South Carolina didn’t have the opportunities he would need in order to make it as an artist. So he moved up to the big city of Chicago and lived with three friends. It was the best decision he has ever made.
He met his wife, author Julie Halpern, in Chicago, who introduced him to the world of children’s book illustrations. Now he and Julie live in the Chicagoland suburbs, with their daughter and son.
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator interview : Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Illustrator interview: Number Five Bus
Also by Matthew Cordell:
Special Delivery by Philip C. Stead. Roaring Brook Press. 2015.
What Floats in a Moat? by Lynne Berry. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 2013.
Ollie and Claire by Tiffany Strelitz Haber. Philomel. 2013.
Bat and Rat by Patrick Jennings. Abrams Books for Young Readers. 2012.
Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It : False Apology Poems by Gail Carson Levine. Harper Collins. 2012.
If You Were a Chocolate Mustache by J. Patrick Lewis. Wordson. 2012.
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Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? by Audrey Vernick
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