A Fine, Fine School

Creech, Sharon. A Fine, Fine School. New York: Joanna Cotler /HarperCollins Pub., 2001. Print.  Illustrated by Bliss, Harry.

In A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech with illustrations by Harry Bliss an overzealous principal, Mr. Keene, begins to start having school on weekends, holidays and Summer vacation.  This gesture comes from his enthusiasm for the school and passion for learning.  The students and teachers are not on board with this decision and bite their tongues because they, “Don’t know how to tell him” that this isn’t a popular or beneficial decision.  He wants students to keep learning and growing in their knowledge. 

Before long, the main character, Tillie, doesn’t have any time to spend with her parents, brother or dog.  One day she goes into Mr. Keene’s office and tells him that there is someone who isn’t learning.  He is shocked and asks her to explain.  She tells him her dog hasn’t learned how to sit and her brother hasn’t learned how to skip and that for them to learn school needs to be only Monday through Friday.  Mr. Keene sees his decisions in a new light based on what Tillie has told him and he reinstates normal school hours.  Everyone is happy along with Mr. Keene. 

Looking at Norton’s characteristics of of high quality literature, there are some strengths and weaknesses to Creech’s book.  The prospect of having a principal allow a seven day school week is completely impossible.  How Mr. Keene got the job of Principal, much less instated a rule like this is absurd.  However, students can relate to subjects about school; it is their social life and where they spend most of their waking hours.  This is a subject so silly and outrageous I can see students relating to the frustration and ultimate triumph of the students and teachers (to a lesser extent, probably).

The characters overcome their problems in an interesting way.  Instead of talking to Mr. Keene when he first instigated a six day school week, they rolled over.  They didn’t address the problem and then Mr. Keene upped the school week to seven days.  It was only when holidays and summer vacation became mandatory for school attendance when Tillie stepped up.  Talking to someone in a civil manner and expressing your concerns is a great way to solve problems but to wait as long as everyone did is a shame and certainly doesn’t promote speaking up when something is wrong. 

As a result of this problem I believe the characters experience a growing number of students can relate to: not having enough time to spend with others or have fun.  It seems life has become busier for a younger and younger group of students.  Even though Tillie’s lack of time was a result of Mr. Keene’s decisions, she is let down by how much work and how little free time she has.  Tillie’s main strength is speaking up when something is wrong, but her main weakness is not being proactive and forthright when there is more and more school. 

The main theme I saw displayed in the text was “Too much of a good thing is a bad thing”.  The students seemed to enjoy to school and Mr. Keene obviously enjoyed his role as principal.  However, once school became never-ending everyone but Mr. Keene was sick of it and began to hate it.  Also, speaking your mind in a respectful manner is the best way to get what you want.  Tillie could have stomped around, yelled and insulted Mr. Keene, however she spoke to him and presented her request in a mature way. 

The text is relatively straightforward with prediction or inference the main higher thought process that exists.  Mr. Keene’s journey toward having school every day was slow and I believe a student would able to see this is inevitable.  He goes from M-F to M-F plus Saturday to seven days a week to holidays and finally to summer vacation.  Every student would be able to tell that it is only a matter of time until school is 24/7 365 in Mr. Keene’s school.  Otherwise, I didn’t find much higher level thought processes present. 

Within this framework I found males and females to be represented well.  Even though the principal was male, his poor decisions aren’t really a a stereotype of males or females.  I did appreciate the mention of students attending school on Christmas, Ramadan and Hanukah instead of only simply mentioning Christian holidays.  Twenty years ago these holiday examples would have never made it in a children’s book.  In the same breath, there are various ethnicities visible in the student group shots. 

Following this multicultural example, I was pleased to see a child solving the problem of non-stop school by herself instead of taking it to her parents.  Obviously not all problems can be solved by students or their parent(s), but she took matters into her own hands and showed resolve to tell the happily headstrong Mr. Keene how this was hurting her and the entire school. 

The story is told through two very different points of view: Tillie and Mr. Keene.  Mr. Keene, while well-intentioned, sees school as a great thing, so great it must be increased to we can all enjoy it even more.  Tillie and the rest of the school seem to enjoy school but begin to get exhausted and frustrated as the school days pile up.  It isn’t until the end where the two main points of view converge to allow a regular five day school week. 

The setting of “A Fine, Fine School” illustrates the burgeoning frustration with Mr. Keene’s policies.  The story begins with a typical schoolyard, hallways and classrooms showing the student body playing, talking and studying.  As the story goes on, the same settings become places of stress, frustration and extreme responsibility.  They also become dirtier and more cluttered because they are constantly being used. 

Another prominent literary element is the characterization of the major and supplemental characters.  Tillie is very relatable to the image of many elementary school students in that she is hard working, loyal to her family and is kind to others.  In this respect, many of the students may see Tillie as being themselves awash in the crazy world of elementary school, family, friends and home.  The other major character, Mr. Keene, is relatable in that he takes pride, albeit too much, in his school and students.  Most students are familiar with their principal in that he takes pride in the school and is generally supportive of students and their learning.  Mr. Keene however takes this too far and his good intentions are misplaced, much to the chagrin of everyone, including the elementary readers of the book. 

The illustrations are quite basic, as I see them.  They are done in watercolor and bold/dark in their appearance.  There are some humorous events going on in the background, especially with Beans the dog mowing the lawn, enjoying coffee (where his namesake comes from) and playing baseball. 

Looking back at A Fine, Fine School, the target audience is young elementary school students.  I say this because of the readability lexile and appearance of pictures that describe but do not explicitly tell the story.  The sentences are mid-length and have common easy to pronounce words.  The presence of repitition (Mr. Keene often says, “This is a fine, fine school!”) and a pattern of increasing the amount of school shows a level of predictability that allows the reader to be drawn into Tillie and Mr. Keene’s world. 

For my mini lesson, I would ask students to bring in three items they would need to have with them in a seven day a week school.  Throughout the book you can see students carrying a toothbrush or letter from mom and dad in the hallways.  This could act as a show and tell related to the story and serve as a looking further step in the text.  If you were in the story, how would you have to change your everyday life?  What objects would you bring to school that are usually reserved for home?  Why would you bring them?  What is their importance?