Wayside School 3-Book Collection: Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Wayside School Is Falling Down, Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger Kindle Edition

I found this book to be inappropriate for my child. I read it aloud to him and was surprised with how rude/mean/disrespectful the kids in the book are and how aloof/unhelpful adults are portrayed. There is consistent, unchecked name calling and the kids hit each other (even teachers!) and say/do mean things to each other. I bought the three book set and will not be reading the second and third book to my child. It’s more than silly and zany, it crosses boundaries and encourages unkindness.

The books are as good as I remembered; very silly and fun, some subtle educational hints here and there, and definitely help with imagination. I read them to my 5 year old before bed and she's loved them! There are some things I've had to change on a whim while reading (like name calling or what have you) but definitely nothing notably bad..and I'm a pretty conservative parent. Most of it is just too silly to be bad (like a teacher turning students into apples) The stories are really cute and absurd and are perfect for young readers, as they were for me growing up. I'd recommend them.UPDATE: We've now read through two of the books and I have changed my opinion. They're not innocent and very strange content for children, even teens. The first book required some off the cuff editing with words like "stupid" or "dumb jerk" but the second book pushed things WAY, WAY too far. I couldn't edit last some of the content that was absolutely not age appropriate; I know maybe reading these to a 5 year old may not have been the intended audience but I wouldn't recommend these for an 11 year old either. Theyre maybe suitable for a teenager, with discretion. The second book seems to push an agenda, with undertones of inappropriate, grown up content. Kids are very impressiomionable and that's the basis of my updated opinion here.

Hard to even know where to begin! Absolutely LOVED the tales of Wayside School growing up from the missing floor to three Eric's to Mrs. Jewl's crazy experiments, and I feel like its incredibly humorous satire played a very fundamental role in developing me into the sarcastic man-child my family and friends know me as today! (My wife is a big fan of the books as well but maybe not so much on what she's now left dealing with in a husband)These books were some of the very few I repeatedly checked out of the school library because they were always worth a re-read. The best part about them is the layers in the simple yet chaotic stories that reveal themselves in different forms as you grow older! I found my way back to this set recently when I decided it was time for my 8-year old niece (who is starting to discover her own passion for reading) to get her first exposure to the amazingness these stories offer up! And in a proud Uncle moment, she literally was nose deep in the first book of the set as quickly as she woke up the next morning, already telling her parents how much shes loves it!! The funny thing is, buying this set invoked so many nostalgic feelings in me that I almost didn't want to give it to her! Could not be happier though knowing that I could bring a whole new generation into the crazy world of Sachar and excited to borrow these once my niece is done!

These stories were childhood classics growing up. I am now sharing these stories with my daughter. My daughter now wants me to read these stories on a nightly basis. The stories are a little cheesy, but they still make me laugh. Overall, these stories are great as each chapter only takes a couple of minutes to read & although the language has a few rude words such as "stupid" it is still tamer than most of what kids are reading today. I also like how even though the stories are fictional & often have all sorts of nonsense, it also allows readers to use their imagination, which is key for kids that are part of the target population.

This series was so great, I would literally get super excited about reading it when I was young. Now my son has started it and even though there aren't pictures on every page he reads it by himself without prompting. It's an excellent transition series for children who love comic book type of books like captain underpants, dog man, and or Jedi academy. I really just want my son to transition to chapter books and this was a good start.

My 3rd grader (nine year old son) thinks these are the funniest, best reads yet. They totally helped him transition into becoming an avid silent reader - on his own - as the vocabulary is perfectly challenging, the flow of the words is comfortable and natural, and the tone of the book is ideal for his age. The greatest part - I loved these when I was his age, and I get to share in the stories and relive a part of my childhood all over again. He gets a kick out of reading to me and to his dad, and we laugh together. Ironically, my son has homeschooled since first grade, so some of the details allow me to share my school stories with him - but the beauty of Sachar's stories is that they are a world of their own and one gets drawn into them regardless of one's own background. Absolute fun.

I taught elementary school for over 30 years. Every year I would read these books to my students. We laughed everyday when we would read about the different students. My students would make references throughout the day to the stories. For instance they would say no Sammie’s allowed in the class. I One of my students was a non reader. He told me his goal was to learn to read so he could read the books for himself. He finally got from me a gift of the books to make that a reality. I never tired of reading the stories to the children.i even got a set for my grandson and my daughter in law sent me a photo of him reading.

Although we bought these for my 10yo, we quickly found out that the other two (6 and 4) enjoy the stories as well. Definitely worth the price.Also good to note that some of the stories are outright bizarre. There are some funny ones, there are some which has a message to deliver to the kid (e.g. what is art? is it the quantity or the quality?) and there are the bizarre ones, which are not really funny, and doesn't have anything to say either. Even the kids find them strange.Putting this aside, I still think it is a 5 star.

Bought this box set after reading favourable reviews and was not disappointed. The stories are quirky and short enough to hold a young reader's attention. My 8-year-old daughter was so keen to find out what was next that she read the books all by herself (except for the first couple of chapters which were read by her Dad.) She asked me what a couple of words meant and was keen to discuss the stories with me. The stories are exciting, well-written, and fun.

My son is 10. He loves all books from Louis Sachar, but The Wayside School Collection is his favorite. Very funny and imaginative stories. I myself have read the books and loved them as well :)

Good, fun books for early readers.

My 9 year old loved reading these, they are well written ( he read with enthusiasm and laughed out loud) fabulous stories, fir boys and girls.