Hero's a chapter book of contemporary fables about a rambunctious group of fourth graders and their amazing teacher—the globe-trotting, Mayan-ceremonial-robe-wearing Mr. Jupiter—that is sure to delight students and teachers alike. There's Calvin Tallywong, who wants to go back to kindergarten. But when he actually gets the chance, he's forced to do the squirrel dance and wear a school bus name tag. The moral of his story? Be careful what you wish for. Then there's Amisha Spelwadi, who can spell wildebeest, no problem. When Mr. Jupiter asks the class to spell cat, all Amisha can come up with is kat. The moral: Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Kids will laugh out loud as they learn tried-and-true lessons in this funny, fast-paced book.

"A rowdy group of students and their eccentric teacher star in Fleming's (Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!) collection of determinedly loopy vignettes, each of which ends with an Aesop-like moral. On the day before school opens, the frantic principal still has not found a teacher for the notoriously unruly fourth graders. In walks Mr. Jupiter, whose credentials include working as a translator for Bigfoot, discovering the lost city of Atlantis and studying at the Coochie-Coochie Institute for Misbehaved Monkeys; he is hired on the spot. When he refuses to react to his students' misbehavior, they think up pranks guaranteed to rile him, but no one dares to pull them off (moral: 'It is one thing to talk about it, another to do it'). In another tale, a boy who is struggling with math wishes he were back in kindergarten, where tasks were easier, but then is forced to participate in humiliating activities when he goes to help out with the younger class ('Be careful what you wish for — it might come true'). Packed with puns of varying cleverness, the fables range from pithy to protracted, the morals from spot-on to strained. Even with the inconsistencies, there's plenty to laugh at and even to ponder. Ages 7-11." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

This funny, fast-paced chapter book features contemporary fables about a rambunctious group of fourth graders and their amazing teacher--the globe-trotting, Mayan-ceremonial-robe-wearing Mr. Jupiter.

Candace Fleming is the prolific author of many critically acclaimed, bestselling books for children, including the picture books Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! (an ALA Notable Book and four starred reviews), and Boxes for Katie (a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2003); the nonfiction titles Our Eleanor (an ALA Notable Book, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and three starred reviews) and Ben Franklin's Almanac (an ALA Notable Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, James Madison Honor Book, and three starred reviews). She lives in Mt. Prospect, Illinois.