Schooling Around! Books in Order

Schooling Around! shifts the action into one very unusual primary school: Northwest Southeast Central School, home of exploding science projects, runaway lions and the kind of teachers you never quite forget. The series follows Henry McThrottle and his friends as they try to survive each new disaster.

At the heart of the books is Mr Brainfright, Henry's endlessly enthusiastic teacher. He falls out of classroom windows, turns lessons into stunt classes and genuinely believes that skidding on banana peels counts as useful training. Against him stand stricter adults like Principal Greenbeard and Mr Grunt, the fearsome sports teacher, who provide plenty of rules for the kids to break.

Each novel hangs on one big school-wide problem. In Treasure Fever! Henry discovers there may be a pirate hoard buried somewhere on the grounds, sparking a digging frenzy and a race against bullies. Pencil of Doom! turns an innocent-looking pencil into a magnet for accidents, convincing Henry that the school itself is out to get him.

Mascot Madness! throws the class into a chaotic sports carnival where Mr Brainfright becomes obsessed with dressing as a giant banana, and Robot Riot! tackles the arrival of a mysteriously perfect new student who may, or may not, be an evil robot. The plots are madcap but the worries underneath are familiar: fitting in, being believed and handling teachers who are not always right.

Short chapters, cliffhanger endings and lots of illustrations make these books quick to read, especially for kids who like comedy more than long blocks of text. They also echo the way real classrooms feel at their best, with loyal friends, strange in-jokes and a sense that anything might happen before the bell rings.

You do not need to read the series in strict order, but starting with Henry's first days in Mr Brainfright's class lets you watch the school get stranger, and more fun, with every book.