From Publishers Weekly
The many readers who have laughed out loud at Robinson's uproarious 1972 novel, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever , will enthusiastically welcome the return of the six cigar-smoking Herdman kids. These six waste no time bending rules: they break them outright. While the original story centered on the church Christmas pageant, the sequel has a broader focus, paving the way for more varied misadventures, virtually all of which the Herdmans craftily orchestrate. Among the dastardly deeds are the siblings' kidnapping of a bald baby, whose head they "tattoo" and show to other kids for a fee; their attempt to wash their cat (which is "missing one eye and part of an ear and most of its tail and all of whatever good nature it ever had") in a laundromat machine; and their ingenious sabotage of the school's Fire Safety Day observance. In one of the funniest scenes, cunning Imogene Herdman comes to the rescue of a boy whose head (thanks to Imogene's brother) is stuck in a bike rack: she flattens his prominent ears with Scotch tape and slathers his head with margarine so it slides through the bars. If this novel doesn't have quite the consistently razor-sharp repartee of its predecessor, it comes very, very close. Ages 8-up. 50,000 first printing. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-The Herdmans are back in this audio version of Barbara Robinson's riotous sequel (HarperCollins, 1994) to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (HarperCollins, 1972, pap. 1988). While The Best School Year Ever lacks the emotional climax of its predecessor, the vignettes are hilarious. The story follows the misadventures of the Herdmans (there's one in every elementary school grade) during Beth Bradley's year in the sixth grade. Beth's class must come up with "Compliments for Classmates," and when Beth is stuck with Imogene Herdman's name she hardly knows what to do. There are many adjectives one can use to describe Imogene, none of which are complimentary. During the school year, however, Beth begins to see Imogene in a new light - a somewhat odd light, but a new one nonetheless. Imogene is so many things that people never bothered to see, and she is so many things that she never knew. Wise beyond her years, Beth sees her town and its occupants as no one else can. Actress Elaine Stritch's earthy, worldly, almost boozy voice is perfect for Beth, the narrator. This audiobook is a must-have for school and public library collections. Listeners can only hope that it won't take another 20 years for the Herdmans to return.Holly May Pickel, Bluffton Branch Library, SCCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From AudioFile
Actress Elaine Stritch lends her dry voice to this recording of the long-awaited sequel to THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER. Sixth-grader Beth has the ill fortune to draw Imogene Herdman's name in a year-long "Compliments for Classmates" project, and she must contend with the antics of the rest of the infamous Herdmans as well. Although clearly not a child's voice, Stritch's raspy, sardonic tone suits the story well, giving the sense of a wry, old teacher recounting an exaggerated tale of her own school days. Listeners will enjoy hearing the continuing misadventures of the Herdmans so pluckily recounted. R.Q.D. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
Gr. 3-5. Although neither quite as hilarious nor as unexpectedly moving as The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1972), this sequel will still have children laughing out loud at the Herdmans' antics and believing that even such remarkably bad kids have some good qualities. The school year provides the framework for the story, narrated by Beth, who has Imogene Herdman in her class. As soon as the teacher announces that the yearlong class project will be "Compliments for Classmates," which involves writing down the other children's good qualities, it's inevitable that Beth will draw Imogene's name. And what do you say about a girl who swipes a classmate's baby brother, draws pictures on his head with markers, and charges folks a quarter for a look at the Amazing Tattooed Baby? Yet Robinson doesn't just play the Herdmans for laughs. Beth's identification of Imogene's strengths gives the book a level of humanity that makes the novel more than a series of humorous anecdotes. Readers can only hope that the Herdmans will not reform--at least not until after a few more sequels. Few characters in children's fiction are so unredeemed, so uncivilized, and so out-and-out funny. Carolyn Phelan
From Kirkus Reviews
Not just your average naughty children, the Herdmans occasionally step over the line into juvenile delinquency- -but they do it with such panache that the reader cannot help but be impressed. Even Beth Bradley, narrator and sixth-grade classmate of Imogene Herdman, is eventually won over. Beth tells the story of a year in the life of the Herdman clan and describes her own school assignment: to think of compliments for everyone in her class--including Imogene. Beth can think of a lot of names to call Imogene, none of them complimentary. She explains in hilarious detail how the Herdmans are behind every minor catastrophe that occurs in town, from the frogs in the Town Hall watercooler to the ``Amazing Tatooed Baby'' scandal. How can Beth say anything nice about that? Eventually Beth's father comes to the rescue: He calls Imogene ``resourceful'' after she butters a boy's head to unstick it from a bike rack. Beth looks up ``resourceful'' and decides it will do. She also adds ``cunning,'' ``shrewd,'' ``creative,'' and others, realizing that Imogene really is all of these. Beth concludes that if Imogene doesn't go to jail, she could become president. Robinson's readers will look forward to finding out which it will be. The Herdmans will delight readers of this spirited sequel to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1972). (Fiction. 8+) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Book Description
The Worst Kids in the History of the World!
When anything goes wrong at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, from the hexing of Bus Six to the mysterious disappearance of the kindergarten gerbil, it's sure to have a Herdman behind it. The Herdmans are more than famous -- they're outlaws. They smoke cigars, lie, and set fire to things, and that's only when they bother to come to school!
Then a school project forces the students to think of compliments for all their classmates -- including the Herdmans. Is it possible that behind their outrageous pranks there may be something good about this crazy clan after all?
Card catalog description
The six horrible Herdmans, the worst kids in the history of the world, cause mayhem throughout the school year.
About the Author
Barbara Robinson has written many popular books for children, including The Best School Year Ever and My Brother Louis Measures Worms and Other Louis Stories. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is an ALA Notable Children's Book and was filmed as a television movie.In Her Own Words ...I grew up in a small southern Ohio town, and began writing when I was in the fourth or fifth grade, as a hobby and for fun. I'm happy to say it's still fun today, probably because every book I write has to be a book that I also want very much to read. I'm like the reader who turns the page to see what happens next - except, of course, that the page is blank. But I then get to fill it up with whatever seems exciting, funny, scary, happy or sad ... and with characters who become as real to me as my next-door-neighbors - so real, in fact, that sometimes they just step in and show me 'what happens next.'Since I'm one of those writers whose story ideas spring more from people than from plot, I spend a lot of time with my characters, so they tend to be people I like to spend time with - even the wild and woolly Herdmans, who inhabit two of my books, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and The Best School Year Ever. I have a special fondness for the Herdman adventures, probably because boys and girls have told me that these are their favorites, and that's the most important thing to me.Since leaving my small town - though I don't think writers ever really leave the place where they grew up; certainly the flavor of a small town is present in everything I write - I've lived in Pittsburgh, Boston, and, now, in a suburb of Philadelphia where I write, read a lot (boys' and girls' books mostly because they're the best), walk two or three miles a day, watch baseball games and, when the mood is on me, bake terrific cookies!
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