Meet Mrs. Brown's Class

Kevin: Kevin's the boy in the striped shirt above, throwing a paper airplane. He's based on a real boy named Kevin, whom I noticed in a class at a museum. I bet it won't surprise you to know that he was constantly in trouble! You'll find him clowning around in both poems and pictures. Look especially at "Giant Heart," "Insectarium," "Earthquake," and "Dinosaur TV."

Grace:Grace, the girl who just took a picture of Kevin's airplane (which she's going to really yell about in a minute), is also based on a real person. She was the girl whom the real Kevin kept constantly annoying. Read "Grace's Partner" to see how she gets her revenge. Would you do the same thing to Kevin that she did?

Sarah:Two kids in the book grew out of poem ideas, and Sarah is one of them. I wrote a poem about someone who wanted to walk right into a painting, and I thought it would be fun to have a character who is always curious. She's the one above with the magnifying glass so she can look closely at everything. The poem she grew out of is called "Sarah Enters a Painting" (and be sure you look closely at the painting she's admiring in the illustration!) Poor Sarah. Eventually she gets caught inside a sculpture.

James:James grew out of the poem about a candy museum. Hmmm, I said to myself, why don't I include a kid who loves candy as much as I do? Look carefully at James through the whole book to find candy in unexpected places. (In fact, check his pocket on the cover above - he's the boy on the far left.) Be sure to figure out why Mrs. Brown looks so upset in the right-page illustration for "James at the Candy Museum." And what exactly is James smiling at in "Raymond at the Clock Museum"?

Raymond:Every class seems to have a kid who is louder and rougher than the rest, and in Mrs. Brown's class, Raymond is that kid. He's the one in the white shirt, yelling already on the cover. Throughout the book, you'll find him teasing and bullying other children. Look especially at "Dinosaur TV," "Wait Till You See This," "James at the Candy Museum," and "Earthquake."

Sheldon:Since Raymond's a loud rough kid, I wanted a quiet, gentle kid like Sheldon for balance. He's the one on the cover admiring a painting of the Mona Lisa. Sheldon's probably my favorite because he reminds me of my son. Both of them love insects, reading, and writing. (See if you can find the eight times in the book when Sheldon can be seen reading, drawing, or taking notes.) Sheldon's the "star" of the poem "Insectarium." (When you read it, see if you can figure out why I use the slang word bugs in the poem instead of the more correct word insects).

Heather and Ann:My editor suggested I include in the class two kids who are best friends. One of them is Ann, the one about to be hit on the head with Kevin's airplane. And the other is Heather, the girl with curly red hair. Since I wanted them to have separate personalities in addition to being best friends, I made Heather a timid, jumpy person. (Look at her reactions in "Dinosaur TV," "Steam Train Noise," and "Insectarium.") Ann is the brave one who protects her. The two girls are almost inseparable (see if you can find the twelve places in the book where they can be seen sticking close to each other).

Mrs. Brown: And is Mrs. Brown a real person? You bet your boots she is! And I'd love to find her. So if you know a Mrs. Brown who taught a third grade class with students named Kevin and Grace and who visited the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA with them sometime in the spring of 1998, please tell her I'd like to meet her again. She's the only person who ever made me scream in a museum. (For the story of that, read "Dinosaur TV.")

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