I have not read, not was I aware of Margot Zemach's book, IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE, based on a Yiddish folktale, but this story shares the message in a fun way. Michal Babay has set this story in a school lunchroom/cafeteria where the students complain about the chaos and noise while they are trying to eat their lunch. Well, they don't know chaos, but their principal gives them the opportunity to. Each day, she adds something else to the lunchroom: Science Fair projects, animal appreciation so all class pets, and finally school teams practising. Now, it is chaos! After giving the students a taste of this, she announces the end of all these activities and the lunchroom goes back to normal and the students love it. This is a great lesson for everyone and my grandkids loved this story. They laughed so hard, but when we talked about what was happening, they understood the concept and what was going on. The illustrations by Paula Cohen are wonderful. So full of activity and detail, as well as humor that they added so much to the story. I definitely recommend this book to families, schools and classrooms.

This book is lots of fun and silly. It echoes classic picture books of the past. It would be lots of fun to read aloud to a classroom.

This story is loosely based on a Yiddish Folktale called It could Always be worse. In this book the kids in school hate their lunchroom because it is crowded and noisy. So, the principle starts adding things to the lunchroom and packing it tighter. Once all things are again emptied out the kids realize they had it pretty good at the start. I like the parable of this story, but overall, I just did not like the story. I get the reasoning behind it, but they make the principle seem mean or un caring. She smiles while reading the kids letters, but that smile almost seems sinister. Maybe I am not in the right frame of mind while reading this, but it was just okay, not something I find memorable or that I would want in my collection.

Well I am the total outlier with this one, but this was really not my cup of tea. While I totally understand the concept behind what is being taught, I just didn't enjoy the story overall. For me, the best parts were the illustrations and the lovely note in the end explaining the Yiddish story it is based on and why the author wrote this book. If I was looking for books for my littles, I would pass over this one every time or I would try and find it at the library.

Thank you to NetGalley, Michal Babay, Paula Cohen - Illustrator, and Charlesbridge for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, Charlesbridge Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This modern retelling of an old Yiddish folktale is a great way to teach children - and adults - about looking at things with a bit of perspective. The illustrations are fantastic, the children I read it with went through it three times in a row, because there was so much to see - we all loved it.

I received an electronic ARC from Charlesbridge through NetGalley.
An updated retelling of a Yiddish folktale about changing your attitude and finding your blessings. The students at Parley Elementary did not behave well in their lunchroom. Some students complained to their principal, Ms. Mensch. Her method of solving this problem seemed counterproductive until the final few pages. She packed more items and activities into the room until it was far too crowded and loud. Finally, she announces that all of the items and activities will return to their normal locations and the lunchroom becomes quiet and neat again. The students work to keep it that way and learn a valuable lesson on taking care of this area and changing their attitudes to appreciate what they have.
The high energy and chaos come through in both the text and illustrations. Readers can see the chaos spread and watch the character expressions change as the story unfolds.

It is always interesting to read folktales retold in fun way, and this is one of those folktales I've never heard before. This serves also as reminder on what could be worse, and children will happily respect what they have. One interesting way to teach them about orders too.

This book was a fun book. It was a joy to read and see the colorful pictures and very detailed illustrations and very fast read. Fun to read anywhere on a trip to your grandmas house

Taken from a Yiddish folk tale, the Incredible Shrinking Lunchroom is about chaos. Chaos without the tension. Chaos learning to go with the flow. Nothing is more chaotic than a school lunch room. An easy going principal and students going bananas. How does a principal bring peace to a chaos? A different perspective.

A great book to enjoy with your kids. Laugh out loud and dealing with chaos. We all have it.

A special thank you to Charlesbridge and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

This was a cute kid-friendly story with a reminder to appreciate what you have. The kids started out complaining that their lunch room was super crowded and quickly learned how good they had it. My daughter liked this story and we had a few giggles along the way!

My service dog loves to read kids book lately. He’s always been involved in bookish things.

We sat down and he got his toy, He was excited it was school themed, food themed. We talked about the moral and how it works with his job.

The book from another perspective was a great small story for kids in grade school. It was funny, and the art was so cute. Highly recommend.

This was a cute book! The illustrations are colorful and engaging and the story is silly. This would be the perfect book to read at story time at the library, especially during the summer or in the afternoon when more school aged children are in attendance!

This Elementary school has one big problem; a lunch room that is too small for everything going on there. The students are desperate and driven to distraction--and hungry, so they write to their principal for help.

What happens next is chaos and...magic? (Inspired by an amusing Yiddish folktale.)

A fun story enhanced by bright and adorable illustrations that readers will enjoy. (Plus, the mysterious disappearance of some class pets!) A quick bedtime story, or a life lesson; it's a book for all ages and interests!

5/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the preview of the ebook pdf. The review was voluntary.

#IncredibleShrinkingLunchroom #NetGalley

I have never laughed as hard as I did than with this book

This book follows a group of kids ,their headmistress and their shrinking lunchroom. I absolutely loved the plot,the illustrations and the sequence of events. I recommend this book to every parent and library

I received a complimentary copy and all opinions expressed are entirely my own

I read this to my 2nd grade class! The overall message was great! We were learning about folktales and coincidently my students are always complaining our class is too small! Overall a cute book with a great message!

Cute retelling of the Yiddish folk tale of a farmer who complained about his house being too small. In this case it is children who complain to their principal that their lunch room is too small.

So what does she do? Similar to what happened in the folk tale, she puts more things into the lunch room. Science projects, sports teams playing their games, and so on. Until the kids can't stand it, and then she removes all the extras, and though they are back to what they had before, they now see with relief that it seems larger and less crazy.

The pictures are bright and colorful, and the look on the principal's face as she adds more and more to the room is so knowing.

Although I loved "It Could Always Be Worse" this still makes the same point, and perhaps it will be sought out as well.

<em>Thanks to Negalley for making this book available for an honest review</em>

The illustrations are so good.
The story is good to share with young students too for classroom teachers.
A good one for classroom management.

I loved the illustrations of this book, but didn’t really love the story… until I read the authors note and understood why he chose to write this book! Definitely a must add to preschool / elementary classrooms!

This is a very cute and entertaining story. A group of vocal students complain that their lunch room is too loud and noisey, the principal seems to do the opposite of listening when she adds class pets, science projects and sport teams to the crowded cafeteria, but like many great principals, she has a plan! This would be a great classroom read aloud and a great segue into teaching lunch room expectations. I would definitely recommend it to any elementary teacher, or for students ages 6-10. There are some challenging words, but I think that the pictures tell the story quite well and it would be great as a shared reading or read aloud experience. I so appreciate Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book! I can’t wait to buy a copy for my classroom library once it is published!

Thanks to Netgalley and Charlesbridge for a free digital copy.

A great book to teach children (and adults) a bit of perspective. Wrapped in a funny and vibrantly illustrated story, this tale will be a great tool to teach the lesson of looking at your situation through different eyes.