I’m a teacher. Mainly a secondary level one, although I do have primary-age children so the school world explored by brothers Lee and Adam Parkinson in this book is not entirely alien to me. I had also seen posts by Mr P on Twitter but hadn’t made the connection with this book – the @ICT_MrP account is (I think) run by Lee.
This book is an entertaining jaunt through life as a teacher. It covers all the parts of the school year that are part and parcel of teaching life – the parents’ evenings, the school play, assemblies…plus the primary school belief that a wet paper towel can cure all ills. Headache – wet paper towel. Bruised knee – wet paper towel. Major arterial bleeding – wet paper towel. True.
As a parent of this age group and previous teacher of Years 5 and 6, a lot of this was extremely relatable and funny. There were some brilliant stories that made me laugh out loud – I especially loved the assembly for the child moving to Australia…
However, I actually think that the book might be more engaging for parents or those outside the school system – I did like the funny stories, but a lot of the analysis of the state of education is slightly wasted on fellow teachers. We hear you and agree with you – but it undermines the humour somewhat to be living it!
The format of the book was also a little bit puzzling on Kindle. The two Mr Ps each ‘speak’ in a different font, but this isn’t always clear on a Kindle. I’d probably suggest that this book would be more easily enjoyed in print form.
Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone who wants a sneaky peek into the world of primary schools. It is funny (because it is true!) but possibly more enjoyable to those who aren’t in schools every day themselves as this limits the impact a bit.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you’d like a copy of this book (out now), please use my affilate link below and thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases.
Header photo by Lewis Keegan on Unsplash
It’s good that you mention the font not always being clear on Kindle. Sadly enough that’s the downside of an e-reader.
I think I’d enjoy this one, especially living in the U.S. There’s a book called Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind that I read last year and really loved, full of stories of a third grade teacher in the U.S.
That book sounds like fun – I’d be interested to see if US school is very different to in the UK!