Steve Martin’s Late for School is the story of a boy with a track record of being late for school. One morning he finds that he is about to be late again, and that this would be a very, very bad thing. We follow him as he runs to school. On his way he jumps a fence, nearly lands in a pool, takes a kite to school that crashes into the football field and ultimately makes it to class just before 8:00. Spoiler Alert: It’s Saturday, and he was supposed to go fishing with his Dad. The idea of tension as a literary tool is evident, although fantastical in this writing. We experience his struggle with himself to leave for school on time, his past conflict with his parents for his tardiness, the physical hurdles on his way to school, and ultimately with his personal conflict of knowing what day it is. Martin uses this conflict as a vessel for humor in his writing, and as a teacher I would help students to see that the humor of conflict can have a functional place in writing. Unfortunately, I would probably not choose this book as the example of its functional use. This is a cute picture book following the lyrics of Steve Martin's banjo tune. The illustrations are quite nice. The book included a CD with two versions of the song. On the first, Steve Martin sings and plays the song; on the second, just the tune plays so readers can try to sing along. I did find that the pagination didn't always work with the rhyming, so the CD was helpful for that reason. Listen to the CD several times and follow along with the book for the most enjoyment.
What do You think about Late For School (2010)?
Great illustrations & cool cd with Steve Martin's banjo playing. Really fun book!
—counter_strike_warrior
One of my fifth graders this year was the inspiration for the illustrator!
—cyntia
