The Principal from the Black Lagoon

 

Book: The Principal from the Black Lagoon 

Author: Mike Thaler 

Illustrator: Jared Lee 

Genre: Humor, Realistic Fiction 

Awards: NA

Age Group: Pre-k - 3 

Summary: 

Hubie is sent to the principals office and is dreading seeing the principal, who he hears is a monster! There are a bunch of rumors about kids being sent to the office and never coming back, the waiting room being filled with bones, and how she uses the kids as things, like a coat rack. There are even kids who are experimented on, like Freddy Jones who has the feet of a chicken. However as the door opens, a normal, pretty woman walks out. Her room is normal, where she has a simple talk with Hubie, and then sends him on his way. Hubie is then ecstatic that he went into the room and left perfectly fine, no bunny ears or anything! 

Evaluation and Comments: 

The Principal from the Black Lagoon is a very imaginative book that plays on the fears that many younger students have towards the dreaded principals office! As Hubie walks towards the monsters lair, he plays back all the many rumors that he has heard and fears for himself. However, he see's that the principal is a normal woman with a normal office and he leaves intact.  

This is a funny book that many younger students will relate to. We have all had the experience of dramatizing our fears only to find out, it was all for nothing. Most kids especially have the experience or know of the fear of having to go to the principals office and dreading the punishment they might receive. With that, the book teaches students that sometimes, things that seem very scary are actually pretty normal, our imagination just likes exaggerating things. 

One activity you can do in your classroom is have students compare and contrast both principals (the real principal versus the perceptions the students made) and then have students draw their own good and evil principals. You can also ask students to think about/share about a time in which they were really scared about something only to find out it really wasn't that scary. 

In conclusion, The Principal from the Black Lagoon has my seal of approval! 🥇😄