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Seven Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break If You Want to Survive the Cafeteria: A funny picture book where Kyle imagines lunch ladies and big kids as giant insects―until he conquers cafeteria fears
Addressing kids' anxiety about unfamiliar situations, this irreverent book lists and explains the rules a kid must follow to survive the perilous world of the school cafeteria. Warnings about the pitfalls lurking in the lunchroom have Kyle imagining and fearing the worst, as the server, the lunch ladies, the cashier, and the menacing big kids become terrifying giant insects in his eyes. Kyle inadvertently breaks every rule but winds up enjoying his lunch—and overcoming his fears.
32 pages, Hardcover
Published June 27, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 6, 2017
Great illustrations but a lot of text leads this to be a book best suited for older kids.
July 31, 2018
The first days of school are filled with lessons about how to be successful following school rules and routines. The lunch room is one of those places that can be scary if you're new to a school or just not used to buying the school lunch. With fun, narrative text and hilariously detailed illustrations, this book lays out the do's and don'ts of the cafeteria. This would be a fun text to share with kids before the first day of school.
April 4, 2017
Reviewed for School Library Journal, August 2017 issue.
r 1–4—The award-winning team behind Ten Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break if You Want To Survive the School Bus pen another cautionary tale. The same young protagonist who survived the school bus is minding his own business when his bossy friend Ginny gives him strict guidelines on traversing the dreaded cafeteria. The rules are fairly straightforward and hold such time tested tenets as "Don't hold up the line" and "Never aggravate the lunch lady." Since he is reading a book on insects while she lectures him, all of the rules Ginny recite morph into a sort of insect-themed horror story. For instance, sixth graders are as "scary as a swarm of yellow jackets" and the school bully is portrayed as a giant meat-eating water bug. Of course, the boy does everything wrong but still manages to make it through the lunch hour in one piece. He concludes that the best advice is not to listen to Ginny ever again. Filled with engaging and sweeping illustrations done in acrylics, the pictures are engrossing and bring life to an otherwise verbose and confusing tale. The bug rift is intriguing but unfortunately muddles this lengthy and rambling story. VERDICT: An optional purchase for those who have a strong fan base for the first book.—Amy Nolan, St. Joseph Public Library, MI
r 1–4—The award-winning team behind Ten Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break if You Want To Survive the School Bus pen another cautionary tale. The same young protagonist who survived the school bus is minding his own business when his bossy friend Ginny gives him strict guidelines on traversing the dreaded cafeteria. The rules are fairly straightforward and hold such time tested tenets as "Don't hold up the line" and "Never aggravate the lunch lady." Since he is reading a book on insects while she lectures him, all of the rules Ginny recite morph into a sort of insect-themed horror story. For instance, sixth graders are as "scary as a swarm of yellow jackets" and the school bully is portrayed as a giant meat-eating water bug. Of course, the boy does everything wrong but still manages to make it through the lunch hour in one piece. He concludes that the best advice is not to listen to Ginny ever again. Filled with engaging and sweeping illustrations done in acrylics, the pictures are engrossing and bring life to an otherwise verbose and confusing tale. The bug rift is intriguing but unfortunately muddles this lengthy and rambling story. VERDICT: An optional purchase for those who have a strong fan base for the first book.—Amy Nolan, St. Joseph Public Library, MI
October 9, 2017
If you read "10 Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break if You Want to Survive the School Bus", then you understand the premise of this book. This is another book along the same lines. This time his friend gives him rules about eating lunch in the cafeteria. This book is a great book for the beginning of school to accompany the previous installment of the "School Bus". I would read this to 2nd-5th graders depending on the comprehension level of the students and what activities or learning opportunities you might have to accompany the book. All in all it is a fun read with many different instructional opportunities.
March 11, 2018
Full title: Seven Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break If You Want to Survive the Cafeteria. The text, coupled with over-the-top illustrations are certain to connect with many lower grade kids who eat cafeteria food. Kyle's imagination, along with how each rule-related situation plays out will have readers nodding and laughing as their imaginations put them in his situation. He's able to get past verbose Ginny's attempt to control his behavior in the school cafeteria, even turning the tables on the bigger kids as well as Ginny on the way home from school. A fun well illustrated book that youngsters with vivid imaginations are certain to enjoy.
December 2, 2018
Seven Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break if You Want to Survive The Cafeteria
Written By: John Grandits
Illustrated By: Michael Allen Austin
Fountas & Pinnell: I
Book Level: 1st Grade
Kyle, normally brings lunch but has decided to buy it from the cafeteria. He doesn’t seem to think it’ll be an issue, until his friend Ginny gives him specific rules to fallow. This is when his anxiety set in, Kyle doesn’t like rules because he’s afraid he’ll break them.
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction and Picture Book
This is a contemporary realistic fiction because just about any modern school aged kid, could find these rules helpful.
This is a picture book because the supporting illustrations that accompany each page.
Bookshelf Mentor Writing Traits:
Ideas: The main body of the story utilizes the same theme throughout, how to surviving the school cafeteria.
Voice: The story is told through the unique eyes of Kyle, a bug lover.
Word Choice: The author used precise words to compare characters in the story to bugs.
Conventions: The author and illustrator use capitalization and different fonts to inform the readers of a shift from the story to the rules of surviving the cafeteria.
Presentation: The illustrator has done a great job incorporating emotions and facial expressions throughout the story. In line with the word choice, he also created some characters to look like bugs when the author makes those references.
This would be a good introduction or supporting text to a science unit on insects or how to handle going through a lunch line and eating in the cafeteria.
Written By: John Grandits
Illustrated By: Michael Allen Austin
Fountas & Pinnell: I
Book Level: 1st Grade
Kyle, normally brings lunch but has decided to buy it from the cafeteria. He doesn’t seem to think it’ll be an issue, until his friend Ginny gives him specific rules to fallow. This is when his anxiety set in, Kyle doesn’t like rules because he’s afraid he’ll break them.
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction and Picture Book
This is a contemporary realistic fiction because just about any modern school aged kid, could find these rules helpful.
This is a picture book because the supporting illustrations that accompany each page.
Bookshelf Mentor Writing Traits:
Ideas: The main body of the story utilizes the same theme throughout, how to surviving the school cafeteria.
Voice: The story is told through the unique eyes of Kyle, a bug lover.
Word Choice: The author used precise words to compare characters in the story to bugs.
Conventions: The author and illustrator use capitalization and different fonts to inform the readers of a shift from the story to the rules of surviving the cafeteria.
Presentation: The illustrator has done a great job incorporating emotions and facial expressions throughout the story. In line with the word choice, he also created some characters to look like bugs when the author makes those references.
This would be a good introduction or supporting text to a science unit on insects or how to handle going through a lunch line and eating in the cafeteria.
September 27, 2017
Ginny gives Kyle all the rules to follow when eating in the cafeteria since this is his first time. But do the rules really help?
I'm afraid the humor was odd and didn't really work for me. The age targeted is 6 - 9, which I can understand since most little ones wouldn't understand the story at all, and the text is very long for a picture book. The illustrations weren't funny to me, they were more on the creepy side. But then that's why they publish lots of stories and various artists. Not everything works for everybody.
I'm afraid the humor was odd and didn't really work for me. The age targeted is 6 - 9, which I can understand since most little ones wouldn't understand the story at all, and the text is very long for a picture book. The illustrations weren't funny to me, they were more on the creepy side. But then that's why they publish lots of stories and various artists. Not everything works for everybody.
November 30, 2021
reading level: 2nd- 4th grade
fiction
I think this book is more for older kids because there is so much text in this book. I love the illustrations and how each group of students is transformed into a different insect. This book gives a spin on a situation where the cafeteria can be a scary place for some students. A very entertaining read and recommend this book for teachers to read to their class.
fiction
I think this book is more for older kids because there is so much text in this book. I love the illustrations and how each group of students is transformed into a different insect. This book gives a spin on a situation where the cafeteria can be a scary place for some students. A very entertaining read and recommend this book for teachers to read to their class.
September 30, 2017
Who knew it would be so hard to navigate the cafeteria in schools with school lunch? This book is long in text and fun with illustrations but is lots of fun to read with and to a child. The illustrations are hilarious and the boy does everything you could possibly do wrong so it is so fun. This is a good pick for humor.
January 9, 2018
I had read the Bus rules book a few years ago and was pleased to see this addition. I actually enjoyed it better than the bus one! It was shorter for one, so held my interest, and rang truer. Even breaking all the rules, the main character was more resilient than I remembered as well. It was cute and funny.
August 1, 2017
Really entertaining book. I am sure many first-time cafeteria users may find it helpful!
I gave one less star for the Digital art. I really prefer a more handcrafted look, but I can see how this was the best choice for this topic!
I gave one less star for the Digital art. I really prefer a more handcrafted look, but I can see how this was the best choice for this topic!
August 14, 2017
I'm not sure what I expected when I started to read this story but the illustrations are hilarious! This titles is terrific for the Kindergarten to Grade 3 audience, as students are sure to enjoy Kyle's imagination seeing his fellow classmates and teachers personified as bugs.
November 19, 2017
This is the second title about school rules I've read by this author. Unlike the first, this title in the series is a bit less scary from a kid's point of view. The insect characters make great comparisons to the personalities of fellow schoolmates.
June 16, 2018
A hilarious story written in poetry about a boy names Kyle. He did not bring his lunch from home and will need to buy it in the cafeteria today. His rues and misconceptions about the cafeteria are eventful and entertaining. Can’t wait to read more of John Grandits’ books!
September 7, 2018
On their way to school Kyle tells his friend Ginny that he has to buy lunch today in the school cafeteria. Ginny is horrified and proceeds to give Kyle 7 rules that he must follow for this task. But during lunch Kyle manages to break each and every rule. But you know what? He survived.
May 13, 2017
I liked this book! It's for an older audience than I'm looking for, but it might behoove me to use it this summer.
July 18, 2017
Silly back to school book.
July 20, 2017
Sufficiently goofy and gross.
August 23, 2017
A cute story with very amusing illustrations. Highly entertaining. Sure it was kinda cheesy, but not dumbed-down as kids books can so often be, and it made me chuckle.
September 1, 2017
Entertaining. May not be great for the little ones, though, because a few of the pictures (which I liked) may be a little creepy for them.
September 14, 2017
Figurative language - similes
September 14, 2017
Cute story geared toward bug lovers! Funny and true to the heart of elementary school life!
September 27, 2017
Refreshing. Amusing. Entertaining illustrations. Read it.
October 1, 2017
Fabulous illustrations and great voice highlight this book about a kid learning the ropes in the cafeteria when you have to buy your lunch.
January 14, 2018
Cute idea but soooo much text.
September 23, 2019
The artwork is fun and funny.
Read
July 13, 2017This one is going to be an awesome mentor text for writing survival rules for practically anything. Loved how the artwork mirrored the figurative language.
Read
August 22, 2017Pretty freaky illustration style. Protagonist has a bug fixation and may be having some hallucinatory issues.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews