Miss Small Is off the Wall!

My Weird School #5

by Dan Gutman, Jim Paillot (Illustrator)

With more than 30 million books sold, the My Weird School series really gets kids reading! In the fifth book of the original My Weird School series, Ella Mentry’s gym teacher, Miss Small, is teaching A.J., Andrea, and the gang about fitness. But how can anyone stay in shape juggling scarves, balancing feathers, and doing the Chicken Dance? Whatever happened to freeze tag or dodgeball? Perfect for reluctant readers and word lovers alike, bestselling author Dan Gutman’s insanely popular My Weird School series has something for everyone. Don’t forget to join A.J. and the gang on the rest of their hilariously weird adventures. This chapter book is an excellent choice to share with children ages 6 to 10 who are ready to read independently.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Chapter Books, School, Realistic Fiction, Audiobook

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2005

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

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fizz Ed teacher Miss Small is tall and outgoing. She makes the kids do things like square dance, juggle, and balance peacock feathers. She is really off the wall. But when the kids at Ella Mentary School find out Miss Small is going to be a quarter of a century old, they begin to worry about her health and the fact she seems so immature. My daughter and I enjoy reading about AJ and all his adventures in this series.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love reading this series with the kiddies.

[Lady Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 4 / 5

Re-read in 2020 as part of my nostalgia-fest in times of boredom.

Quote time:

"'But most of all, by the end of the term, I want you all to have cooties.'" -- O_O If any teachers had said this to me when I was a little kid, I would've thought they were "off the wall" as well.

"I wish a basketball backboard would crush her." -- er...okay, surprisingly vivid and violent. Should I be concerned?

[Hayden Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty Goos

[JPL Children’s Department · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Gladys and I both this as one of our "chapter a night" series on Facebook and Instagram in English and Spanish. As all My Weird School books are, this was a quick but super funny read. I always enjoy them! -MZ

[Macai Guest]

the book miss small is off the wall is about aj and his friends are excited about about there first year of fizz ed.But when they got there aj and the gang started to have second thoughts about fizz ed because aj thought they were going to be playing sports like dogeball,baseball,and basketball.But instead of playing any of those sports they played a game where they had to balance feathers on ther fingers.So aj at that time particularly didnt really care for fizz ed.But when they were outside playing tag miss small fell out of the tree and broke her leg.So she went to the hospital but the next week ajs teacher told them to get ready for fizz ed aj was wondering who would take miss smalls place and when he walked in there he saw miss smalls and once again he started loving fizz ed once again. The end

[Raja99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

We bought our seven-year-old a bunch of Weird School books for a trip we took earlier this year. He's really taken to them—they may be the first books he's read entirely by himself, unprompted—and has actually been pushing them on me to read ;-) We were missing this ( #5 ) and #3, so I checked them out from the library.

This particular volume introduces the P. E. teacher, Miss Small. It's a bit of a reversal from the earlier books since the main character actually likes P. E. … but things don't quite turn out the way A. J. was expecting.

I have only read the first five in the series so far and I'm enjoying them. Yes, they're formulaic, and yes, they're aimed at a much younger audience than me, but they're written with some wit and elegance, and Jim Paillot's illustrations add quite a bit.

(Finished well before 9:17am on 2012-08-09.)

[Cecelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miss Small is the gym teacher. Miss Small is really crazy because she doesn't do normal gym things. AJ thought he liked gym class but now with Miss Small they do the chicken dance and do scarf juggling. They also did square dancing and 3-year old games like Duck Duck Goose, Red Rover, and Mother May I. When they play a different game that I don't remember what it's called, one person has to hide and the rest of the people have to count to 12 then say "midnight" and look for the person. When they find the person they yell the name of the game (but I don't remember what it is). Miss Small was hiding in a tree and she fell and broke her leg.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Small is a quarter of a Century old and the kids think she is so old she is going to die? She is a fun PE teacher and makes them do fun like like juggle feathers. I like this series, little boys will love these early chapter books. The only thing I would worry about is AJ can get a little violent. HE talks about hitting Andrea in the face and says mean things about Andrea, but other than that I liked it. I listened to these on the Audio CD (while I am driving) and I love Jared Goldsmiths narration.

[Jane]

I thought this book was really silly because a regular teacher would never climb a tree because it's too dangerous.
This book is about a boy named A.J who is taking P.E for the first time ever.
He thinks it's gonna be all about sports and danger. However, he is surprised on his first day. Instead it's all about balancing, juggling and boring stuff like that.
Worst af all, the teacher is a big nutball. They play games instead of sports and one time, the teacher even broke her leg! However, in a few days, A.J realizes that P.E isn't how he thought it would be. It's better.

[Pooja Banga · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book is average .. That's why 3stars..
This book could have been more better..
The story is just revolving around all characters but coming again to square one..
The only thing I liked is miss small and children concern towards her..

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend these books to young readers. There is a story line that a child can follow and it has relatable characters.

[lola Franco · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this because my son left it out. it was super cute and fun to read. i think kids would get a kick out of it.

[NewFranklin School]

this book was great i read over an over an over i read it twice a day man u make the most greatest books ever could u make some more of those books please i would really appreciate it thank you.

[Brynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read part of this book it's good

[Josephine Sorrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

We finished this book on May 14 which is National Chicken Dance Day. In the book, the principal was doing the Chicken Dance. What a coincidence!

[Aleeza Batara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is funny and at the same time weird.

[Marya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting change in perspective. I always hated gym class, with its insistence on "hero" sports and disdain for all other types of movement. In fact, it was a long time before I realized exercise was something that everyone not only should do, but could do. Modern gym teachers work hard to introduce kids to all kinds of activities, hoping that at least one will stick and provide the child with a life-long form of keeping healthy.

A.J. comes from the opposite perspective, and it's interesting to see how wacky it all looks. I guess Miss Small would look like a New Age freak to a conservative stalwart, but at least he found the juggling cool.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

اسم من اِی‌. جِی است و از مدرسه خیلی بدم می‌آید. راستش، خیلی بدم می‌آید که خواندن و نوشتن و ریاضی بخشی از مدرسه است. این چیزها به درد پرنده‌ها می‌خورد! فقط از یک چیز مدرسه خوشم می‌آید: تربیت‌بدنی. تربیت‌بدنی! من عاشق تربیت بدنی‌ام! تربیت‌بدنی خیلی باحال است! تربیت بدنی اصلاً مثل مدرسه نیست. اگر مجبور نبودیم برویم مدرسه، فقط تربیت‌بدنی انجام می‌دادیم، به‌نظر من، اگر می‌توانستیم تمام روز تربیت‌بدنی داشته باشیم و بی‌خیال کارهایی حال‌گیر مثل خواندن و نوشتن و ریاضی می‌شدیم، مدرسه جای خیلی باحالی می‌شد.

[Scion Sanjin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about fun activities during Fizz Ed class. Miss Small, who was the Fizz Ed teacher, invited students to play different games. Some of the students like AJ, Rayan, and Michel did not like those fun games. They wanted to play soccer, basket balls. At the end they realized that those games were fun to do. I like this book very much. The funny part of this book is AJ and Andrea's square dance. I read this book with my son, Scion.

[Nam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the kids thinking about adults. As a 23 year old woman, I have noticed that many older adults don't seem to believe in just plain childish fun. Everyone needs to let their hair down occasionally, and it was delightful to read that the adults in AJ's school do act like kids when they get a break from work. Now, to convince the kids...

[Courtney Umlauf · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent early chapter book series. Each book has a bit of humor and a relatable setting and characters that make them easy for students to engage with.

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[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great chapter book to introduce to students who maybe don't like reading or the "boring" subjects in school. It talks about physical education but it is references as Fizz ed in the book. I feel like students can relate to this book but also learn vocabulary and compare their school days to those of the characters in the book.

[Aubree · Rating 5 out of 5]

So basically Miss small is a gym teacher and she is a crazy joke she is crazy and she basically when they first go and she dunks all the balls in the basketball hoop and then like they were playing a game and I'm not going to tell you what it is and she ends up falling out of the tree so try to guess the thing is the game

[Travis Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter liked it a lot, but didnt love it. It has a very weird last chapter and the story abruptly changes tone. Other than that if you like the other books in the series you'll like this one too.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

I thought this one started off strong but the ending just wasn't as great as the rest of the books in the series. It wasn't as captivating and I wish it had more of a fun twist.

[Erth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ella Mentry’s gym teacher, Miss Small, is teaching A.J., Andrea, and the gang about fitness. But how can anyone stay in shape juggling scarves, balancing feathers, and doing the Chicken Dance? Whatever happened to freeze tag or dodgeball?

[MJM03 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book and I would recommend this book to people who like funny books

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever and funny with a good belly-laugh moment near the end.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good