I bought The Wheel on the School because I thought it was a book my mom had read to us years ago. And it might have been.
Then again, I may have had it confused with another book.
Every time I would hear about The Wheel on the School, The Wheel of Time, or A Wrinkle in Time I would say “Oh, my mom read that to me as a kid”. However, I finished The Wheel on the School without any part seeming familiar, and I recently found out that The Wheel of Time is a fantasy series that nobody has probably ever read to their children.
So, I apologize for lying to a number of you. A Wrinkle in Time was the book my mom read to us.
Unless, of course, there is another book with the word Time or Wheel in it.
The Wheel on the School is a children’s book set in a small coastal village in Holland called Shora. After becoming curious as to why storks (yes, the animal) no longer come to their village, 6 children (5 boys and 1 girl) – along with their school teacher – decide that the best way to get storks to return to Shora is by finding a wagon wheel for the roof of their school.
Without a wheel for the storks to build their nest upon, the roofs of their houses are too pointy.
After making this discovery, the rest of the book is them searching for, finding, and placing the wheel on the top of their school.
The book is easy to read, and the plot is incredibly simple. However, it fulfills its job as a children’s book marvelously.
The characters are entertaining. There’s excitement, but not enough that would scare a child. And, at 298 pages, there’s enough time to properly develop the simple plot.
My only concern is about how comfortable the teacher is at giving his students the day off. I don’t suppose they have to worry about standardized tests in Shora, but, if they did, I don’t assume they’d do too well.
Denver Nay Blogs 