Horn Book Review
Told in a rhythmic House That Jack Built style, this early reader traces the origins of a schoolyard fight that began with a bump and ended up with a huge pile of kids being pulled off a hapless teacher. Neither the text nor the action-filled illustrations clarify just why the first punch was thrown, but the children later admit they should have used their heads instead of their fists. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In the ``Bank Street Ready-to-Read'' series (Level 2), a gentle fable about the origins of conflict, beginning in the manner of ``The House that Jack Built'': ``This is Dan who bumped [accidentally] into Fran, which started the fight in the schoolyard.'' One kid after another ricochets into the accumulating melee until a teacher trips on his way to sort things out and ends at the bottom of a pile of everybody concerned--after which they laudably (if not altogether realistically) figure out what really happened and admit that ``It was dumb!'': ``I used my fists and not my head.'' Good lesson, painlessly delivered in a catchy, cadenced text and relaxed, lighthearted illustrations that capture the story's humor. (Easy reader. 4-8)
