[.ca] Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster (ISBN 0152060537)

From Amazon.com:
Sniffling and coughing through a week at home with a cold, Sage (one who shows wisdom, experience, judgment") misunderstands one of Mrs. Page's vocabulary words in the homework assignment, and the resulting embarrassment in front of her fifth-grade class leaves her "devastated: wasted, ravaged. Ruined: destroyed. Finished: brought to an end." Miss Alaineus is not, as Sage determined in her "defective and delirious" mind, "the woman on green spaghetti boxes whose hair is the color of uncooked pasta and turns into spaghetti at the ends." Sage slumps home after the vocabulary bee fiasco, to her mom's comforting, if seemingly impossible words: "There's gold in every mistake." Fortunately, and as always, mothers know best. Debra Frasier (author-illustrator of On the Day You Were Born) has created a masterpiece of clever wordplay in her hilarious and poignant story of the exquisite pain of schoolgirl mortification. One sentence using vocabulary words from A to Z runs along the bottom or side of each page ("Obliterate me, send me to oblivion--no one could outdo my stupidity"). Not just for word-worms, virtually any kid will identify with the occasionally confusing world of learning, and be reassured by the happy conclusion. Frasier's youthful artwork was inspired by her daughter's fifth-grade desk. "No fancy art supplies; just markers, notebook paper, pencils, glue, and scissors." The result is eminently inviting for grade-school children. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

laugh out loud!:
This book made both me and my 10 year old daughter laugh! It's a wonderful story of embarrassment and courage. My daughter and I both loved the mother who was so supportive. This doesn't have to be limited to the very young child - anyone can appreciate the situation!

Vocabulary stretcher!:
My fourth grade class loved the book! After reading it aloud, I added to our shelf of favorites--but it's more often in someone's hands! We plan a vocabulary parade for spring, but students are already creating word-based costumes.

Vocabulary Made Fun!:
Poor Sage (one who shows wisdom, experience, judgement) is home with the flu and gets the weekly vocabulary words and assignment from her friend Starr (who is not a luminous celestial object seen as a point of light in the sky). Unfortunately, she does not quite get the last word down and that is the basis for her story. Instead of writing miscellaneous (consisting of various kinds of qualities, a collection of unrelated objects), she writes Miss Alaineus, defining it as (the woman on green spaghetti boxes who hair is the color of uncooked pasta and turns into spaghetti at the ends). Sage is devastated (wasted, ravaged) as the class, including Mrs Page (who is not a single side of a printed sheet of paper usually found bound in a book) burst into laughter and she turns red (the color of embarrassment). But as her mother explains, "There's gold (a bright yellow precious metal of great value") in every mistake (something done, said, or thought in the wrong way). And her mother was right. Sage uses this embarrassing error and goes on, to her astonishment (great shock and amazement), to win the gold trophy at the Annual Vocabulary Parade..... Debra Frasier has taken the boredom out of spelling words and definitions and written a marvelous, inventive and creative story, kids 5 and up will just love. Filled with hundreds of words and definitions, a terrific story line and detailed, expressive illustrations, youngsters will begin to understand and enjoy the power of words and how important it is to use them correctly. And as Sage triumphs (a true success), kids will see that making a mistake is not the worst thing that can happen, in fact it sometimes leads to great success (a favorable or desired outcome of something attempted). Miss Alaineus A Vocabulary Disaster is a special and unique book that should be included in every home library, and is sure to be a classic, in years to come.

Making a mistake is wonderful!:
I want this book read by all children who are afraid of making mistakes and can't stop laughing at others making a mistake. And also by all parents and teachers who often tell their boys and girls to be more careful dealing with words. Making mistakes have a power to create someting special, eapecially when you are dealing with words. It's a miracle.

A wonderful book for word lovers!:
This book is a lot of fun. I was introducted to Miss Alaineous at a teacher's workshop and conference. It was read aloud to us by the person conducting the workshop and all of us howled in laughter. The art work is like nothing you have ever seen before, very vivid, bright and certainly original. I bought the book to share with kids in the classroom. The Vocabulary Parade and the sentences on each page (A to Z) are great ideas to use to make school more exciting. A true delight and I am looking forward to more from this author!