#3 Cool Teacher in Kid Lit--Miss Malarkey

Okay, so I was thinking, the Giver in THE GIVER is not really a teacher although he certainly serves as one. So, I am taking him off of the list and adding Miss Malarkey from MISS MALARKEY LEAVES NO READER BEHIND by Judy Finchler. I had to think hard about this one. I never like when kids are rewarded for reading. So, the principal dying his hair purple and sleeping on the roof was not my favorite. But.... then when I read the book, I decided Miss Malarkey totally makes our list. I never get the impression that Miss Malarkey really likes the purple hair reward. Instead it is clear that her goal is to hook each child into books by really knowing them as readers. She doesn't care how many books the kids read. She is all about turning kids into readers by finding books that they will love! So, Miss Malarkey becomes the third COOL TEACHER IN CHILDREN'S LIT.