Mrs. Jafee Is Daffy!

My Weird School Daze #6

by Dan Gutman, Jim Paillot (Illustrations)

The weirdness never stops! The new vice principal of Ella Mentry School has some crazy ideas on how to teach kids. A.J. and the gang have to stand on their heads while they do math! They have to take a spelling test underwater! Everybody has to do yoga! Could it possibly get any weirder?

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Humor, 2nd Grade, Realistic Fiction, Chapter Books

128 pages, Library Binding

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

The author of over 80 books in a little over a decade of writing, Dan Gutman has written on topics from computers to baseball. Beginning his freelance career as a nonfiction author dealing mostly with sports for adults and young readers, Gutman has concentrated on juvenile fiction since 1995. His most popular titles include the time-travel sports book Honus and Me and its sequels, and a clutch of baseball books, including The Green Monster from Left Field. From hopeful and very youthful presidential candidates to stunt men, nothing is off limits in Gutman's fertile imagination. As he noted on his author Web site, since writing his first novel, They Came from Centerfield, in 1994, he has been hooked on fiction. "It was fun to write, kids loved it, and I discovered how incredibly rewarding it is to take a blank page and turn it into a WORLD."

Gutman was born in New York City in 1955, but moved to Newark, New Jersey the following year and spent his youth there.

Reviews

[Reese Eelkema · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a birthday gift from Aunt Katie. Ms. Jafee is the name of my 2nd grade teacher!

Ms. Jafee, AJ, Andrea and Michael all have to do an under water test in a swimming pool and breath under water for a long time!

[Joey Oborne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good Book

[Jnase1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second and third graders at my school love these books. They like that they are funny and use words like "shut up" and "butt" as well as the exaggerated humor, some of which they don't always get. What I like about these books are the many idioms contained within each. It might be fun to make a class book about all the idioms and their meanings contained within each book...and you can also use this time, if you so choose, to address why using the words "shut up" and "butt" in school are frowned upon.

[Kt Roth]

2.0 chapter

[Kenleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is Mrs. Jafee Is Daffy! written by Dan Gutman. So it all started when a new elementary school principal came. But he was not your regular principal he made you do crazy things to learn. For example he made AJ and his friend stand upside down on there heads for math. He said it would help them think. The principals name was Mrs. Jafee anyway the next thing she maid the kid do was do a test underwater! they had to memorize the things on the paper they had a time limit and then after the certain amount of time they came up and Mrs Jafee asked them question that were on the paper to help them learn. But that was not it next AJ mentioned that if they eat alot that they can learn better. So Mrs Jafee took him to the office and forced him to eat all the cake and cookies and candy even ice cream witch made him sick. This connects to the theme your choice because I chose it. I rated this a four out of five stars because I actually really enjoyed it. I recommend this book for anyone who would like to enjoy little laugh with a book.

[Marya · Rating 2 out of 5]

A wacky take down of spurious educational theories as pedaled by education schools? Yes please! Gutman is forever doing a great job of honing in on the silliness of some educational practices, while commending the cleverness of other teachers to reach their students (as in Miss Daisy's feigned incompetence).

And then there was the racism. Look, I get that having some new age-y physical education class replace the tried and true sports based physical education class can be ripe for mocking. But did that teacher have to be Indian? With a squeaky voice? Whose name was Swami Havabanana? Not funny.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The vice principal, Mrs. Jafee, takes over when the principal goes to "Principal camp" for four days. The book satirizes educational trends: Mrs. Jafee fires the gym teacher and hires a yoga instructor; experiments to see if children learn better in the dark, underwater, and while eating candy and cake; and has the children reenact the battle of Gettysburg with water guns. One of the really fun passages is when Mr. Granite the classroom teacher asks the kids what the word "vice" in vice principal means. Not even Andrea who reads the dictionary knows.

[KendallH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mrs. Jafee is Daffy by Dan Gutman is a book starting with a boy named A.j; who goes to Ella Mentary school, and has a principal, Mr. Klutz who is going to principal camp and has a vice principal who is in charge, Mrs. Jafee. she makes the 2nd graders do very unusual things like standing on their heads to do math, or doing wierd yoga poses with a suspected girl, spelling tests underwater and playing a civil war game at recess and squirting people with water guns. I give this book a 4/5 because it was pretty short,humorous and flat out funny. I reccomend this to people who like funny books.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Description The weirdness never stops! The new vice principal of Ella Mentry School has some crazy ideas on how to teach kids. A.J. and the gang have to stand on their heads while they do math! They have to take a spelling test underwater! Everybody has to do yoga! Could it possibly get any weirder?

[Karen & Gerard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mrs. Jafee Is Daffy! By Dan Gutman is about the vice principal filling in for a few days and instituting some new teaching methods such as yoga for gym, playing classical music, having kids memorize underwater and re-enacting the civil war with water guns. I think I’m growing tired of this series because I didn’t find this one very funny at all. (Karen's review, 2 stars)

[Elina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The new vice principal of Ella Mentry School has some crazy ideas on how to teach kids. A.J. and the gang have to stand on their heads while they do their math. They also have to take a spelling test underwater.

[Myth Liberated · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتابی در حد سرگرمی مناسب کودکان البته به گفته یکی از خوانندگان ایرانی به نظر بهتر است با نظار بزرگترها این کتاب خوانده شود، اینکه کتاب 126 صفحه ای 96 صفحه میشه هم جالبه

[Masoome · Rating 4 out of 5]

خییییلی خنده دار و خوبه این مجموعه :) عاشق کاراکترهای دوست داشتنی و بسیار شیطونش شدم!

[yaashi · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was very funny

[Jaden John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Jafee is weird.

[Megan Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny

[Travis Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good follow up to the Wayside Story books. My daughter was craving more wacky school books.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Gutman understands young reader’s humor and has created a fantastic book formula to draw in even the most reluctant of readers. The My Weird School series is perfect for students to practice their reading skills with its repetitive yet hysterical narrative and story lines. But don’t mention that part to your kiddos, they might run away in fear they could learn something. A must have collection for any grade school library or classroom!

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book. Silly characters, clever writing. Nice suggestion for kids who say they don't like school or don't like to read. Recurring characters make the books easier to recall. In this book, Mr. Klutz, the school principal goes to camp and leaves the VP, Mrs. Jaffy in charge. She has good intentions, but her renovations to the school and learning process result in calamities!

[Kaytee · Rating 5 out of 5]

princible Klutz is going to princible camp and the vice president is mrs.Jafee and she thinks of weaird ideas then then they act out the civel war and they tie upmrs. jafee becase it was part of the plan and then mr.klutz comes back and lands in a swimming pool in the school

[Sisp4a_kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

It tells me that you should never hate school

[Averywhite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this school is very funny really it is wierd. You cant believe that mr.klutz(principal)left.
and left ms.jaffy in incharge.I really like when miss roopy was stonewall jaskon.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mrs.Jafee was very mean. She stole Mr.kltuz desk.

[Luca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not very cool.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part of this book was when Mrs. Jaffe gave AJ and his class a spelling test in a swimming pool while Mr. Klutz is away at principal camp.

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge · Rating 5 out of 5]

A.J. And everyone in the whole school thinks that principal Klutz is the best principal including the teachers. K.S.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

she is really funny

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

ms jaffy gets a job as the asst principal. she lets aj's class go to the swimming pool. at the pool, they all hummmmmm in the water.

[Rita Platt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super funny! Great to read aloud with kids.

[Gideon · Rating 5 out of 5]

gr8 book can't wait for more