FRINDLE by Andrew Clements
Nick Allen always has great ideas—especially for wasting time during class. But when he gets to Mrs. Granger’s fifth grade English class, he may have finally met his match. Mrs. Granger sees through his time wasting strategies immediately and somehow manages to twist them around so that Nick ends up with more homework! But his unwelcome research assignment into the origins of words gives him a great idea to get underneath Mrs. Granger’s skin. After learning that words are only “real” because people use them to communicate and agree on what they mean, he gets all of his friends to start calling pens “frindles.” At first it is just a fun gag in his English class, but despite Mrs. Granger’s best efforts, it spreads to the whole school—and then the whole nation.
Frindle is a funny and heartwarming story about a boy’s determination and a truly excellent teacher. It is unsurprising that so many teachers and librarians say they tear up at the end of this simple but touching story—and close to twenty years after the novel’s release, kids still find Nick Allen’s story hilarious and relatable. This is a great book for kids in grades 3-5 and would go well on a book list that features great teachers, along with the now popular Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea.
Any other favorite literary teachers to share?
Susan the Librarian 