THE CLASSROOM AT THE END OF THE HALL
by Douglas Evans & illustrated by Larry Di Fiori
The Classroom At The End Of The Hall ($14.95; Aug. 15, 1996; 132 pp.; 1-886910-07-3): A collection of stories about events in a weird classroom, where various creatures, including a genie, an intelligent doodlebug, and possibly a ghost, may live. Students learn the value of trying harder, doing their own work, appreciating their hardworking teacher, not daydreaming, and even keeping their desks neat. The instruction is only thinly cloaked in tall-tale humor and cartoony black-and-white drawings; Evans's first book is one educators may like but few children will finish. (Short stories. 8-12)