A Nice Walk in the Jungle

There's a surrealistic quality to this book which is disturbing and yet incredibly compulsive. The children returned to it time and time again. Miss Jellaby takes her class for a walk in the jungle and is so intent on pointing out things of educational interest, that she misses a great deal of what the children see. Most importantly, though, she's totally oblivious of the fact that her class is being eaten, one by one, by a boa constrictor. She also ignores Tim's attempts to draw this to her attention. Miss Jellaby does rescue the children, with satisfying panache which was hugely enjoyed by my class. Some of the younger ones were worried by the whole book and a very articulate child said that though she liked the book she 'didn't like it that Miss Jellaby didn't listen and notice what was going because that was what teachers should do!' Out of the mouths of babes!