Wayside School Is Falling Down

This book is absolutely brilliant. Louis Sachar is a comic genius, an irrepressible madman whose humor defies gravity and the laws of physics -- especially in the Wayside series where the school was accidentally built sideways and is missing the nineteenth floor. Kids read the blackboard upside-down, students eat pencils, cows clog the stairwells and there are 3 chapter nineteens and one chapter twenty, twenty-one and twenty-two. My daughter is six and read this book in a week. She was so enamored with it she actually abandoned her favorite television show in order to find out what happened when some hapless kid ate Miss Mush's Mushroom surprise. Another wonderful thing about this series is that it's pleasurable for adults to read as well. Louis Sachar's humor is zany but dry -- imagine a child friendly Being John Malcovich or Big Leboswki. If Sachar was a cartoonist he'd be Gary Larson. If he was an actor he'd be Kramer in Seinfeld. If your child is reluctant to read or doesn't enjoy reading please order the Wayside series. (The first book, 'Sideways Stories from Wayside School' is outstanding as well and it introduces you to all the madcap characters who reappear in this one.) If your child is grumpy and sullen you are almost guaranteed to make them chuckle, hoot and holler with these deliriously imaginative and insanely amusing books.

It’s my favorite book from when I was younger - still find it hilarious. Wanted to gift it to my niece. So excited

And she’s not much of a reader. But she does love the stories in this series and I recommend to others with reluctant readers. Either to read together or have them read on their own. Entertaining and fun.

I am 11 and in the 5 grade and I just love this book because of its humur. I just love the Wayside School series because they tell a story that just does not make sense because why would Ms.Jewels order a nice computer and just drop it out of a window to prove that gravity is real. Haha 😂 I can not tell you how much I 💕 this book.

This is one of my daughter's favorite series, and I have to say my daughter has good taste and a good sense of humor. While some of us may have had that excellent education that all of our parents strive for, a few of us (probably more than just a few) have managed to squeek by and perhaps even learn something, even though the school may have been something more like Wayside School. The stories in this book always have interesting things. The teachers are often as quirky as the kids, in fact usually more so. The perpetual presense of lunch room food, that later in life joins us in work cafeterias and the infamous hospital food. The teachers who probably should have retired long before they reached retirement age, the principles who have been too affected by too many visits from kids to their offices for bad behavior. The other school staff who are always an interesting addition to the environment, are all here and tastefully, or more accurately described in the humor of reality. The kids are hillarious as well as some of the school rules. We all know some of those rules that we have always wondered, why? They serve no purpose other than elementary school, and you never will encounter them again in life, unless of course you do military time. This book is just one of the series and they'll all be as enjoyable to read as they are to your child to read or be read to. Some parents may think them irreverent, but lighten up and enjoy a little humor! Kids need humor too!

I loved this book when I was a kid and shared it with my daughter. She loved it as well.

A fun romp full of small digestible stories that skewer classic elementary school tropes and are entertaining for kids and parents alike.

Love it now as much as I did as a child. Ms Zarves, Jewels, Louis and all the kids are so happy and so proud that they have this fun school. It brings me joy after 35 +years. Love Sachar!!