ALA Booklist (Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Welcome back to Miss Doover's classroom, where Jack persuades his buddy Samir to put a whoopee cushion on their teacher's chair. After the prank succeeds, she decides to separate the boys. Noting that there's good persuasion and bad, she assigns a four-sentence persuasive essay in class. Both Samir and Jack seize the opportunity to convince Miss Doover to seat them together again. After reading each draft, she explains why she's not convinced, offering constructive comments such as, "Be calm. Be clear. Be kind," "Bribery isn't good persuasion. Neither are threats," and "Why will it be for my own good as well as yours if you sit together?" When the boys finally succeed, it's a win for everyone. A bit of narrative runs through this amusing picture book, while the action unfolds primarily in the lively mixed-media illustrations, which feature some comics-style panels, and the dialogue appears in speech balloons. A fine, funny sequel to Thank You, Miss Doover (2010) and an excellent read-aloud choice for classes learning the useful art of persuasive writing.

Kirkus Reviews

Sisson's bright illustrations in brown-bordered panels build Pulver's story of two mischievous friends who try to coax and even bribe their teacher to allow them to sit together.In response to the pranks of two students, Jack and Samir, Miss Doover creates an essay prompt to teach her class about persuasive writing. Images of notebook paper with drafts of student essays explore the process of developing a written argument, while quotation bubbles contain Miss Doover's grammar corrections and introduce vocabulary words such as "frivolity," "nemesis," and "conspire." The instructions are clear and helpful, with Miss Doover providing an example for young readers to use when working on their own essays. However, the early, abrupt entrance and exit of the principal interrupts an otherwise very cohesive book. His inclusion seems to serve no purpose other than to introduce vocabulary words and information about a canceled field trip that is mentioned only once more, and the comic relief he could provide is not developed. Various shades of browns and pinks color the characters, with Miss Doover and Samir presenting black and Jack and the principal presenting white. However, outside of the color of their skin and some varied hair textures, Sisson's gently stylized children all have the same round faces and spare noses, with no real exploration of phenotypic differences.A helpful step-by-step exploration of drafting and writing essays for early learners, though not without some bumps. (Picture book. 6-10)

School Library Journal (Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2018)

K-Gr 2 Friends sit together, right? Conspiring with his best buddy, Jack persuades Samir to place a whoopee cushion on their teacher's chair, and both receive a new seat assignment far away from the other. The prank also generates a new class assignment from their perceptive teacherto write a four-sentence persuasive essay: "Write about what you want to happen. Then give two reasons why. Then tell why again, in a slightly different way." Jack, of course writes about sitting next to his friend Samir. With Miss Doover's continued instructions and constructive criticism, the boys, their classmates, and readers receive additional help in shaping an argument use good grammar, no hyperbole, be calm, be clear, be kind, no bribery or threats. Dialogue presented in speech bubbles, text that defines newly introduced words, and examples of persuasive writing join colorful cartoon images of an ethnically diverse classroom in a mixed media presentation drawn from a variety of perspectives with inserted writing examples. VERDICT Enjoyable and informative, this engaging title is a suggested general purchase for all libraries. Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX