MISS MALARKEY’S FIELD TRIP

Fledgling teacher Miss Malarkey’s real education continues in another spot-on slice of school life. Here, she leads her first field trip—to a “hands-on” science center where one child immediately gets his arm caught in a giant ear, another tries to bury a third at the “Dig Your Own” dino exhibit, others wander unchecked by oblivious chaperones into the gift shop or through an “Authorized Personnel Only” door, and similar minor but stress-inducing mishaps. O’Malley chronicles it all in bright, good-humored scenes unencumbered by extraneous background detail, and the trip turns out to be more or less fun for all—including the frazzled teacher, who finds a care package from fellow educators on her desk in a heartwarming final scene. (Picture book. 7-9)