A Fine, Fine School

This is the humorous tale of Tillie and her school principal, Mr. Keene. Mr. Keene is so proud of the work the students at his school are doing that he decides to have students come to school on the weekends, then holidays, and all through the summer. The illustrations are filled with funny scenarios for readers to enjoy and the repetition in the dialogue and writing make it a fun story to read out loud. It is a good reminder for Mr. Keene, and readers, that sometimes too much of a good thing, turns out to be not so good in the end.

On weekends, redheaded Tillie climbs trees and teaches her little brother how to skip. During the week, of course, she goes to school. Her principal, Mr. Keene, is the kind of gung ho leader any school would be lucky to have. That is, until he goes a little over the top. "Oh!" he says. "Aren't these fine children? Aren't these fine teachers? Isn't this a fine, fine school?" And then this exuberant administrator decides five days isn't nearly enough for such a fine school. "From now on, let's have school on Saturdays, too!" The teachers and students are not thrilled, but no one is willing to burst Mr. Keene's bubble. Soon their well-meaning principal has done away with weekends, holidays, and summer vacation. It's time for someone to show more take action... gently, though. Young Tillie has just the right amount of subtlety and tact--and motivation--for the job. show less

First sentence: Mr. Keene was a principal who loved his school. Every morning he strolled down the hallway and saw the children in their classes. He saw them learning shapes and colors and numbers and letters. He saw them reading and writing and drawing and painting. He saw them making dinosaurs and forts and pyramids. "Oh!" he would say. "Aren't these fine children? Aren't these fine teachers? Isn't this a fine, fine school?"

Premise/plot: What happens when Mr. Keene, the school principal, gets CARRIED away with the idea of having a fine, fine school??????? Mr. Keene is so incredibly proud of how wonderfully FINE his school is, that he always has to push, to strive to make things even better. But is there such a thing as TOO much????

My show more thoughts: I really LOVED this one so much. I can't believe I'm only now discovering this one. I had no idea Sharon Creech ever wrote picture books. So what led me to seek this one out? to discover it? I saw that there is a sequel coming SMART, SMART SCHOOL. The premise to that one sounds awesome. I knew I needed to go back and pick this one up.

This is a funny picture book that I'd recommend to teachers and students. show less

"A Fine, Fine School" tells the story of a young girl, Tillie, whose principal of her school decides that since they are such a "fine" school, they will have school on the weekends and holidays. The students and teachers respect him and don't want to upset him so they don't say anything. But when he announces that they will have school over the summer too Tillie is upset because she isn't able to spend time with her brother and dog. She meets with the principal and is shocked to hear what she has to say. The next day he announces that the school schedule is back to normal. I think this is a great book to show young children that no matter what the age, they should be able to voice their opinions.

Sharon Creech writes this children’s book about a girl named Tilly. Tilly goes to a school where the principal is super proud of his school and always wants to be in school! First he extends schools to Saturdays too, and then Sundays, holidays and eventually summer too! Sharon Creech using great examples of run-on sentences to emphasize how often they are in school and the long lists of everything they are learning throughout the book. Eventually Tilly talks to the principal about how important it is to learn other things too outside of school, like how to climb trees, teach younger brothers how to skip, and teach dogs to skip. This book is a cute message that reinforces the importance of school, but also family and fun. Creech does a show more great job relating to students who would dread having school every single day of the year. Harry Bliss illustrates this book with unique characteristics. Bliss does a terrific job at emphasizing the emotions of characters on each page and helping the words come to life through illustrations. show less

Wonderful book to start the year. The Principal loves the school and students so much that he thinks school should be on Saturdays and then holidays. Tillie is a brave little girl and gently tells the Principal that she learns outside of the school day too and she misses her little brother.

School-age children will enjoy hearing the story of Mr. Keene, the principal who is so proud of his fine, fine students and fine, fine teachers and all the wonderful learning that goes on at his school that he decides that more must be better. As he decides to have school open on Saturdays, then on Sundays, then on holidays, then over summer vacation, it takes one brave little girl to help him realize that learning doesn't just take place in school. Bright, expressive illustrations by Harry Bliss add much to this story's humorous charm.