Herbie Jones & the Second Grade Slippers - Hardcover

Suzy Kline, the author of nineteen previous Horrible Harry books and four books about Song Lee, lives in Willington Connecticut with her husband, Rufus. Suzy and Rufus have been married for thirty-eight years. They met in the state where they both grew up: California. Suzy grew up in Berkeley and Rufus in Sacramento. Suzy graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in European history. She met Rufus at the Davis campus while attending that campus for a year. They got married and lived in different places, including Canada, before settling into Connecticut, the state they now call home.

Suzy taught in 5th and 6th grades at Shannon Elementary School in Richmond, California for 3 years, and 2nd and 3rd grades at Southwest Elementary School in Torrington, Connecticut for 24 years before retiring this past June. She now enjoys writing full-time and visiting schools and libraries. The couple share their home with two cats, Teeter and Hoag. They have two daughters, Jennifer and Emily, and four grandchildren: Jake, Kenna, Gabby and Saylor. A fifth grandchild is due in September, 2006. Suzy's mother just turned 96. She dedicated her most recent book, Horrible Harry Takes the Cake to her.

Suzy and Rufus enjoy attending UConn football and basketball games, and Suzy uses the UConn library as a reference for her writing facts.

 

Kindergarten-Grade 2–In this easy chapter book, Mr. S announces that beginning the following day, the children will wear slippers in class. This sounds like fun to most of them, but not to the new kid, Roy, who doesn't own any. Herbie solves the problem by sharing his slippers and his sister's old ones–purple mules with tiny flowers–with Roy; each boy wears one slipper from each pair. There's a valuable lesson here about not laughing at others. The adults (all male) are depicted as sympathetic and cool, and the dialogue rings true. But wouldn't a savvy teacher be prepared for a circumstance like Roy's? Better humorous books for this audience include Barbara Park's Junie B. Jones series (Random), Cynthia Rylant's Henry and Mudge titles (S & S), and Kline's own Horrible Harry books (Viking). Sorry, Herbie, this one doesn't make the grade.–Kate Kohlbeck, Randall School, Waukesha, WI
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