Jim Paillot

A.J. and the other second graders do everything except play sports when they go to "fizz ed" class with their new teacher, Miss Small.

"It's very important for kids to learn about fire safety, and Mrs. Meyer of the local fire department has been brought in to teach the students at Ella Mentry School. But she is the weirdest safety expert in the world. She likes fire just a little too much. Will Mrs. Meyer catch on fire? Will she retire? What will transpire?"--Jacket.

When the teachers of Ella Mentry School go on strike, A. J. and the gang meet a new principal who does not believe in rules and says that the students do not have to learn anything if they do not want to.

Disaster reigns when A.J. participates in the school's holiday pageant celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.

A school trip to the natural history museum goes awry when the curator, Ms. Krup, loses her giant cockroach and A.J. and his friends decide to explore the museum in the middle of the night.

When the hippie crossing guard, Mr. Louie, puts a love potion in the water fountain before Valentine's Day, everyone at Ella Mentry School falls in love.

It's Thanksgiving! A.J. is thankful for four days off from school. But he's not thankful for Dr. Carbles, who is grumpier than ever. Dr. Carbles even fires Mr. Klutz! Will A.J. and his friends be able to save their principal's job?

A.J. and his friends in the second grade learn that art can be made out of anything, even garbage.

As the new computer lab teacher tries to bring Ella Mentry School into the twenty-first century with her peculiar inventions, second-grader A.J. struggles to survive without sugary snacks when Principal Klutz bans junk food.

New lunch lady Ms. Hall is obsessed with healthy food and she makes it her mission to get A.J. and the gang to eat more vegetables, but they won't take this sitting down.