School for Bandits

by Hannah Shaw

Ralph Raccoon looks perfectly normal. But he doesn't act normal at all. He's disturbingly well behaved, clean and tidy, shockingly polite, and he even brushes his teeth!  Mr. and Mrs. Raccoon are worried—how will Ralph ever become a great raccoon bandit like Grandpa Cutlass or Uncle Whiskers?  It's time Ralph learned some bad manners . . . at Bandit School.

Ralph has no chance of winning the "Best Bandit in School" competition—he's not very bandit-like at all. But sometimes good manners can be useful, and Ralph just might surprise everyone--including himself.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Storytime, School, Animals, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Hannah Shaw was born into a large family of sprout munching vegetarians.

As is the oldest child, she spent her formative years trying to be good at everything; from roller-skating to gymnastics. Hannah soon realised there wasn’t much chance of her becoming a gold medal winning gymnast, so she resigned herself to drawing pictures and writing stories!

By some mean feat Hannah found herself at the University of Brighton doing a degree in illustration. Soon an overwhelming obsession to make books took over her life. Inspired by her love of furry animals, Hannah wrote and illustrated her first picture book Evil Weasel, published by Jonathan Cape (Random House) in 2008. Her next book Erroll, about a boy who finds a squirrel in his packet of nuts, is out in 2009.

Hannah currently lives in a little cottage in the Cotswolds, with her husband Ben the blacksmith and her rescue dog Ren. Her over-active imagination fuels new ideas but unfortunately keeps her awake at night!

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly]

For adults it may be fun or funny (maybe both!) to read this. But this is going to be one hell of a confusing book for kids. It might lead to making them think what's not to do has to be done or vice versa. Sarcasm concept does not work in picture books. Nor do twists on how to do bad things hidden as good things. See? Adults are confused now.

[Steve Holden]

I'm going to start the year with a focus on manners and good character, among other things, with my picture book read alouds. This is a good find. I really enjoy the illustrations and style. I feel this will be very appealing to young readers, and the story is entertaining and humorous. The author, Hannah Shaw, has taken a very creative angle to teach manners. Good book!

[Jessica Calaway]

5 - 8 years

[Tasha]

Ralph was not a normal raccoon. He looked like any other raccoon, but he certainly didn’t act like them. He was polite, clean, and tidy. His parents were frustrated and so sent him to Bandit School where he could learn to be naughty, dirty and thieving. Ralph had an awful time in school because he was just too nice. When his teacher announced the Best Bandit in School competition, Ralph just knew that there was no way he would ever win. He spent his break reading inside instead of causing trouble out on the streets like his classmates. Can a nice raccoon ever come out ahead?

Shaw captures the naughtiness of raccoons with glee. They are shown with frizzy fur, bad breath, and are often playing pranks and taking other animals’ things. Yet they are never frightening, despite the worry on other characters’ faces, they are rascals rather than being gang-like. Children will love many of the touches here, including burping in class and brushing teeth with chocolate.

The text is simple and tells a good story, often crooked on the page. The illustrations and text work well together, sometimes playing off of one another in style.

This is a book that speaks to the importance of manners but in a way that remains fun and light-hearted throughout. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

[Cosette]

A valuable lesson that travels a thin line. Difficult for me to assess how well this lesson was absorbed - my subject fell asleep before the end.

[Peacegal]

In a GREGORY THE TERRIBLE EATER-type story, we meet a little raccoon who seems to do everything "wrong," by his family's standards. However, he proves that being a tricky bandit isn't always the best way to get what you want, even if you are a raccoon!

[Jc]

A school for raccoons to learn to be raccoons .... or is it?

[Taryn]

Very cute story about being polite and caring in spite of your surroundings. Told in a way that is funny to kids :)

[Alisha Funkhouser]

Shaw, H. (2011). School for bandits. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Picture Book Soak

School for Bandits was a fun, loving story about a raccoon that did not fit in because of his kind, generous, and caring nature. He did not like to steal and be mean to others so they laughed at him and he got a bad report card home for being too polite and well behaved. The school had a bandit competition to see who could steal the most loot while on vacation. Ralph didn't like to steal so he helped people instead and was rewarded with all kinds of treats. He won the competition with his acts of kindness rather than stealing and being mean. I loved this story. The illustrations were fun with small captions on things that made every detail important to the story. I would love to use this in my classroom someday, especially if I had to teach a lesson on manners or good behavior.

[Arthur Pengerbil]

Ralph isn't a normal raccoon - he doesn't like being messy, or rude. So his parents ship him off to Bandit School, where Ralph is the worst student of all. He's just awful at everything, and when the term ends, his teacher assigns a competition - whoever has the largest sack of loot after vacation wins the Best Bandit prize. Ralph isn't interested, not one bit. He stays in his room reading over the break, not wanting to get in anyone's way. But then something happens on his way back to school, and Ralph becomes the best!
Review on our website

[Emily]

Ralph isn't a normal raccoon - he doesn't like being messy, or rude. So his parents ship him off to Bandit School, where Ralph is the worst student of all. He's just awful at everything, and when the term ends, his teacher assigns a competition - whoever has the largest sack of loot after vacation wins the Best Bandit prize. Ralph isn't interested, not one bit. He stays in his room reading over the break, not wanting to get in anyone's way. But then something happens on his way back to school, and Ralph becomes the best!

[Kate Hastings]

Grades K-3. At bandit school you're SUPPOSED to pick your nose, grab things from people and throw your food at lunch. Poor Ralph raccoon, with his polite manners and helpfulness he just doesn't fit in. Then a competition starts where the student to collect the most loot over the holiday will win a trophy. And surprisingly, Ralph finds a way to triumph. Great for discussions about manners and school rules.

[Laurel]

Ralph the raccoon is sent to Bandit school by his parents to learn bad manners, but since he is good-natured at heart, has trouble doing what his teacher, Mrs. Mischief, asks of him. At the end, Ralph ends up winning the respect of his peers by winning presents for doing good deeds instead of causing problems.

This was a cute and very funny story that would be great to read while introducing rules to students.

[Andrea Estelle]

I loved Hannah Shaw's pictures in this one. They are the kind that little kids like to pour over - lots of great details! Micah caught on right away that the school for bandits was not teaching the raccoons how to be polite. In the end it was a little too moral-ly for my liking but the boys seemed to enjoy it.

[Sandy Brehl]

It's fun to see the racoons' rascally nature used as a foil for this "lesson" in manners. The rather direct conclusion that manners "pay off" so it's better to use them didn't sit well with me, but I loved that Ralph stayed true to his OWN nature despite the pressures of peers, school, and family.

[Dolly]

This is an entertaining story about a poor raccoon who gets in trouble for being polite. He even has to go to a special school to learn his bad manners. The narrative is entertaining and has an obvious message about the importance of good manners. The illustrations are very colorful and cartoonish and our girls loved the raccoons. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Shazzer]

A cute addition to the manners make good category. There's lots of little humor in the illustrations. A good read aloud for older kids, who will understand why Ralph's parents and teacher are disappointed in his too-nice behavior.

[Robin]

This is yet another children's story in which a character acts out of character for the type of animal he is supposed to be. In this case we meet a Raccoon who does not want to be a bandit, an animal who takes what is not his to take. Lots of colorful illustrations.

[Debby Baumgartner]

Ralph is a polite and well behaved raccoon. His parents are worried about his behavior so he is sent to school for bandits to learn how to act like a raccoon and take food. Does the school change Ralph or does Ralph change the school?

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy)]

This raccoon isn't quite confirming to the rules - which are a little different from rules in Human schools. But he has something important to teach the other raccoons about manners.

[Callen]

......

[Martha]

Very cute!

[Beth]

This is a cute picture book. You hope that children hearing the story can't understand why his classmates and teachers are not pleased with the manners of Ralph.

[Tracie]

Well-behaved Ralph impresses the bigger, mischief-making raccoon bandits at Bandit School by showing them that good behavior has its own rewards.

[Bear]

This one started out alright, but didn't have a good follow through.

[Edward Sullivan]

No well-behaved raccoons live in my neighborhood. Fun story and illustrations.

[Jayanne]

manners

[Elizabeth]

We all really enjoyed this one... in the same vein as Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Pea/Hoot/Oink books.

[Abby Turner]

funny!

[Ardis]

cute.