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24th out of 29 books
—
19 voters
The Best School Year Ever (The Herdmans #2)
The Worst Kids in the History of the World!
When anything goes wrong at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, from the hexing of Bus Six to the mysterious disappearance of the kindergarten gerbil, it's sure to have a Herdman behind it. The Herdmans are more than famous -- they're outlaws. They smoke cigars, lie, and set fire to things, and that's only when they bother to come t...more
When anything goes wrong at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, from the hexing of Bus Six to the mysterious disappearance of the kindergarten gerbil, it's sure to have a Herdman behind it. The Herdmans are more than famous -- they're outlaws. They smoke cigars, lie, and set fire to things, and that's only when they bother to come t...more
Paperback, 176 pages
Published
April 12th 2005
by HarperCollins
(first published 1985)
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Growing up, one of my favorite books was Barbara Robinson's "The Best Christmas Pagent Ever." I read it at least once a year at Christmas and even convinced by parents to record the one-hour special version from television so we could watch it every year.
Now, I'm older and trying to find good books for my neice and nephew. Pondering the books I read as kid, I thought of "Best Christmas Pagent" and went looking for it at my local library to make sure it was age-appropriate for my niece. And that...more
Now, I'm older and trying to find good books for my neice and nephew. Pondering the books I read as kid, I thought of "Best Christmas Pagent" and went looking for it at my local library to make sure it was age-appropriate for my niece. And that...more
My favorite part of this book was when the Herdmans took the baby and put tacktoos on him and charged every one twenty five cents to see the baby. The book reminded me of people like the Herdmans because they would always ruen every thing. I wonder why the Herdmans has such horrible behavior to mess every thing up, my favorite charecters were the teachers and parents because of what the teachers would always tell the students about the teacher room. I will recomend this book to a friend because...more
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This story was by Barbara Robinson and performed on playaway by Elaine Stritch. It was approximately three hours long (9 chapters). Mrs. Kemp Beth's fifth grade teacher gives an unusual assignment the first day of school. The assignment is to think of compliments for each person in the class and a few more for the person you are partnered up with. These compliments must be about personal qualities, and/or some special characteristic this person holds. They have the whole year to observe each oth...more
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Although kids apparently like this book best of the stories about the Herdmans, I noticed more flaws. When trying to write this sequel, Robinson struggled to find a focus. Then one boy suggested she put the Herdmans in school, because after all this is where students spend most of their time. The first chapter therefore starts at Woodrow Wilson School. The chapter is a rambling one, which picks up only when Miss Kemp assigns the class to study one another. Narrator Beth Bradley, about whom we le...more
This is such a cute book! I was literally laughing out loud as I read it! I even shared some of the things that happened in the book with my sister and she got a good laugh as well. The story had qualities a young reader could totally learn from. It was a story in the perspective of a little sixth grade girl named Beth. She goes to school with kids from a family called the Herdmans. These kids terrorize the school, the town, and just about everyone in it. No one seems to like this family, and on...more
The heardmans are back and worse then ever! The herdmans have this funky cat that has one eye and the cat is so mean!They let the cat go places and if they tell the cat to attack then he will attack. Now they lie smoke cigars and they cheat and steal and do whatever they can to get out of trouble. they are the dirtiest kids you will ever meet. they are uncontrollabe they dont listen. they are the famous kids in there town. they could be your next biggest night mare. they set fire to everything t...more
I am a fan of another book in this series (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever). I purchased a copy of that book for each of my students for Christmas this year. I thought I would prime them by reading this book first.
Like a lot of series for children, this book was alike. The problem is just like "A Christmas Story 2"; the author tried to re-capture the magic by replicating the story later. This wasn't nearly as magical as the first offering. It felt forced.
The moral, as it were, wasn't a lesson. W...more
Like a lot of series for children, this book was alike. The problem is just like "A Christmas Story 2"; the author tried to re-capture the magic by replicating the story later. This wasn't nearly as magical as the first offering. It felt forced.
The moral, as it were, wasn't a lesson. W...more
This is a funny book for 3rd or 4th graders, about the crazy Herdman kids who get into all kinds of trouble. The cover says "The hilarious sequel to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" which is mostly accurate. It is pretty funny at times, but just a little to outrageous for me, as the Herdman's antics come so quickly and so fast. I also felt that the ending didn't quite feel very complete to me. It just kind of stopped. It's been a long time since I've read or seen the movie for TBCPE, but I suspe...more
Sep 10, 2009
Kathryn
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Children and Teachers
Shelves:
childrens-books
When I finished reading this book aloud to my 3rd grade students most students gave it 5 stars.
Here's why students and teachers can enjoy this book. It's funny! It's full of moments that will get the kids groaning, laughing, and shrieking with surprise.
The kids love the Herdmans and who wouldn't they are memorable characters.
I found it to be a great read aloud for my students for the beginning of the year because it gives a great kid perspective to school and encourages kids to think about the...more
Here's why students and teachers can enjoy this book. It's funny! It's full of moments that will get the kids groaning, laughing, and shrieking with surprise.
The kids love the Herdmans and who wouldn't they are memorable characters.
I found it to be a great read aloud for my students for the beginning of the year because it gives a great kid perspective to school and encourages kids to think about the...more
The writing style reminds me of an old woman who needs to find her glasses so she goes into the bedroom and sees the dirty laundry and remembers that she needs to change the wash so she goes into the laundry room and sees the broom and decides to sweep the floor but first she has to shake the rug and when she's outside with the rug thinks about what a nice day it would be for a picnic but she needs to go grocery shopping first for some food. But she needs to find her glasses to drive her car and...more
At first, I really liked the book, but when it kept going on as all Herdman, I got a little tired of it. Surely other kids at Woodrow Wilson are the stars of their own adventures, instead of just being Herdman stooges. Surely someone will learn to give no credence to anything a Herdman says. I also found the general plot (not the individual Herdman events) a bit predictable--of course the Herdmans would connive to be the only ones in the Fire Safety picture, of course the Herdmans never get thei...more
The Best School Year ever is a hilarious, cute, and funny book that kids all over a bound to enjoy. The Herdman kids are back in school and everyone knows that if there is trouble there is a Herdman involved somewhere. This book tells the tales of the mischief these kids are creating with their crazy pranks, destructive animals, and well almost every bad prank multiplied by 1000. But is there some kind of mystery behind these pranks? A way of sharing the Herdman kid's characteristics and qualiti...more
Read this to my second graders at the end of the year. They could picture the Herdmans well...partly because of Robinson's description and partly because the Herdmans go to my school and one of them was in my class! (Just kidding, of course, but there were some similarities between the fiction and the fact):) There are a few parts that seemed a little dated, but we enjoyed this book. I was glad that in the end, there were even some good things said about Imogene. My students loved writing their...more
The Herdman's are back! This is a sequel to "The Best/Worst Chirstmas Pagent Ever", and although I didn't like it as much, it was still a very good book. This book takes place the same school year as the Chirstmas Pagent, but there is no refrence to the original story, so you don't have to read the first book to enjoy this one. It is told from the perspective of the same 6th grade girl, Beth, and she is joined by all the children from the original story. This is a book that any child in the elem...more
I feel bad I'm only giving this 2 stars because my mom loved it and she gave it to us as a gift for Christmas. Sorry mom. I read it aloud to my children and I know they liked it more than I did. I felt the story line was discombobulated. The narrator referred to past experiences with the "Herdman's" so often that the story line seemed very choppy and at time to only be comprised of many short stories from the past and a few current events in the story.
So the premise of the story is that the main...more
So the premise of the story is that the main...more
Being a big fan of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, I was a little disappointed in this book. It seemed to be a bit all over the place and, while I realize that the story took place over the course of an entire school year, it moved really fast, jumping from the first day to the last day very quickly! I was considering reading this one to my class as a read aloud, but I'm not sure they'd actually enjoy it after reading it, myself. Which is a terrible shame, since they loved the Herdmans last yea...more
I didnt really enjoy this book because for one reason it didnt say the main chariters name once in the hole intire book it was so frustrating! Plus when one chpter started it didnt even conect with the other chapter!
So I would give this book 1 and a half stars because I didnt think it was that good at all the only funny things that happend where in and out of the chapter like when the herdmans drew all over the babys head so it looks like a tatto.
megan(:
So I would give this book 1 and a half stars because I didnt think it was that good at all the only funny things that happend where in and out of the chapter like when the herdmans drew all over the babys head so it looks like a tatto.
megan(:
These books remind me of the concept of sneaking veggies into kids favorite meals. They are wholesome and good for you, and oh so entertaining. Our son read this out loud to us, and we were all captivated (younger brother, sister, dad, and I). This is a great story chock full of values and spiced up with the honesty and humor that come along with the Herdmans. Our whole family was laughing out loud!
Very cute and very funny kids story. I read it in order to use it for a literature circle with my students. It's a quick kind of sarcastic humor that I think most students are lacking these days and I think this kind of book helps to introduce them to it. A great way to bridge the gap to (or from) the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books to chapter books that are not graphic novels but still entertaining.
Nov 21, 2010
Sarah
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-school-age,
children-s-series
Robinson should have stopped while she was ahead. I found the premise both silly and too similar to the original. At the same time it lacked The Best Christmas Pageant's charm. But would I have liked it as a child? Possibly, though I think even then I would have been tired of the over-used story line having exhausted it through the Christmas and Halloween versions.
May 17, 2011
Emma Ellis
added it
The book The Best School Year Ever was not very good. It was weird and is about these kids named the Herdmans that smoke, tell lie's, and set things on fire. One day they have to do a school project were they are forced to think of compliments for their classmates. Behind the outrageous herdmans there might also be something good about them.
In the fourth grade, we read this as a read aloud at the very beginning of the year. We used the project that the students do in the story in our own classrooms. They had to write kind things about one another. My kids loved the story so much that they wanted follow it up with reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever in October!
One of the few books I've read more than once. Read this to my kids the last time. They loved it and we hand many good laughs together during it. It is a very humorous story, depicting the judgmental people that we humans are. Of course it ends with a quality moral learning experience that we all can learn from.
Beth must find a compliment for every person in her class by the end of the year, which wouldn't be too difficult if it wasn't for the fact that Imogene Herdman was in her class. Laugh out loud funny, this classic will still appeal to kids who can surely relate to kids like the Herdmans running amok in their schools.
A cute little book full of the abnoxious but sometimes fun little quirks the tougher kids at school can have. It helps you stop and think about what those types of personalities really need from friends and teachers. After reading the book, it actually may make you smile when you think of your own "tough kid" at school. :)
Funny sequel, or continuing saga of the Herdman herd! I like it when one brother locks another in the bank bathroom to try to collect reward money (when their wanted posters were posted as a joke). And when Imogene uses butter to get some kids head unstuck from the bike rack.
Good book. Funny. A bunch of little Herdman anecdotes with still a good moral at the end that was easier for me to see coming. I think that is because I'm older now and am so familiar with the original book (and movie). It's not the best book ever written, but if you are a fan of the first book you just can't pass up the sequel! So glad I saw this on the shelf.
BTW: It really should not have taken me so long to read this book. In fact, I worked at a fairly steady pace--considering my current trou...more
BTW: It really should not have taken me so long to read this book. In fact, I worked at a fairly steady pace--considering my current trou...more
This book is really good and I recommend lots of people to read it.
It is about the coolest kids in school the Herdman kids.But the bad thing about them is that they somke cigars,lie and set fire to things.But soon a school project shows up and they have to write compliments for their classmates.What will the Herman kids do? Find out when you read this book.
It is about the coolest kids in school the Herdman kids.But the bad thing about them is that they somke cigars,lie and set fire to things.But soon a school project shows up and they have to write compliments for their classmates.What will the Herman kids do? Find out when you read this book.
Very funny but we liked "The best Christmas pageant ever" more. We always enjoy reading about the Herdmans and their many shinnanigans. I liked discovering, along with Beth the narrator, that Imogene Herdman was a much deeper character than simply a menace.
I liked it, because I read it to Lucy. Discovered on our Saturday day trip to Baltimore that I can read a chapter book to her from the front seat, and she doesn't get car sick! Now for what to read to her on our trip to PA in 3 weeks. Any suggestions?
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the herdmans | 1 | 11 | Feb 10, 2010 02:13pm |
I grew up in a southern Ohio river town -- Portsmouth -- and that small town atmosphere has affected most of my writing.
My mother, widowed when I was three years old, taught school for forty-nine years in that same small town, and her major (indeed, only) extravagance was books. I grew up with, and quickly adopted, the notion that reading was the only way to fill up every scrap of loose time you...more
More about Barbara Robinson...
My mother, widowed when I was three years old, taught school for forty-nine years in that same small town, and her major (indeed, only) extravagance was books. I grew up with, and quickly adopted, the notion that reading was the only way to fill up every scrap of loose time you...more
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