NEVER POKE A SQUID

Another anything-but-tranquil day at school gets a hilarious recap in this sequel to Never Spit on Your Shoes (1990) and Are There Any Questions? (1992). Wearing their squid costume, Arnie and Raymond burst into the kitchen, explaining as they down milk and cookies that it wasn’t their fault, that the Principal shouldn’t have poked their ink bag. Alerted, mother sits down to extract the story. Cazet expands on the children’s realistically jumbled, fragmentary responses to her comments with a series of busy schoolroom scenes, taking Arnie and his kinetic classmates from the Pledge of Allegiance, through Halloween crafts, a dance demonstration by aptly-named, leotard-clad Mrs. Hippowitz (“ ‘There was a rip,’ said Arnie. ‘It was big,’ said Raymond. ‘Really really big.’ ”), a parade, party, and finally a suddenly-ink-spotted Awards ceremony. “Just another day in first grade,” Arnie’s mother concludes, as Arnie and Raymond pelt off to go trick-or-treating. Like its companions, this will draw howls of recognition from children and adults alike, and should be required reading for all teachers—and principals—in training. (Picture book. 5-7)