We Don't Eat Our Classmates
Read Aloud for Your Family
Press play, gather the kids, and let the story do the work.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
ABOUT THE CREATORS
About the Author and Illustrator
AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR
Ryan T. Higgins
Author and illustrator of the NYT #1 bestseller Mother Bruce and the Penelope Rex series.
Ryan T. Higgins
Ryan T. Higgins is the author and illustrator of the New York Times number-one bestseller Mother Bruce, which received the E.B. White Read Aloud Award and the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor. He is also the author of the Penelope Rex series and the Bruce series. He lives in Maine with his wife, kids, and lots of pets.
Illustrator
Ryan T. Higgins
The illustrator of We Don’t Eat Our Classmates: A Penelope Rex Book and several other beloved picture books.
Who This Book Is For
The book is listed at preschool to kindergarten and reads well from age 4 to 7. It works especially well as a back-to-school read aloud, and as a story for the kid who bites or grabs or says the wrong thing on the playground. The goldfish chomp at the end gives the book its gentle landing without lecturing anyone.
What Happens in the Book
It is Penelope Rex’s first day of school. She packs 300 tuna sandwiches in her pony-print backpack. She walks in, sees her classmates, and immediately eats every single one of them. She spits them back out, of course, but the damage is done. The other kids do not want to be her friend.
Penelope cannot figure out why. The teacher explains. Penelope promises she will try not to eat anyone. The next day, she eats them again. The day after that, she eats the whole class and the teacher. The pattern holds until the class goldfish takes a bite out of her finger, and Penelope finally gets it. The book ends with the kids deciding to try again, and Penelope promising to try not to eat anyone today.
The other kids do not want to be her friend, and Penelope cannot figure out why.
The class goldfish takes a bite out of Penelope’s finger, and she finally gets it.
Why It Works for Kids
The book is short, loud, and gentle at the end. The deadpan art gives Penelope a face that is more puzzled than predatory, which lets the kid who bites or grabs or says the wrong thing on the playground read her as themselves rather than as a monster.
The goldfish chomp at the end is the kind of reversal the kid can predict before it lands. The page turns line up with the next day’s promise, and the kid on your lap will start chanting “I will try not to eat anyone today” before the book is over.
The book is short, loud, and gentle at the end. The deadpan art gives Penelope a face that is more puzzled than predatory, which lets the kid who bites or grabs or says the wrong thing on the playground read her as themselves rather than as a monster. — We Don’t Eat Our Classmates: A Penelope Rex Book
Learn More About This Book
Official & Community
- Disney-Hyperion (publisher)
- Reviews on Goodreads
- Ryan T. Higgins (author site)
- Ryan T. Higgins on Wikipedia
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this book different from Mother Bruce?
Yes. Mother Bruce is about a grumpy bear who accidentally raises four geese. We Don’t Eat Our Classmates is about a young T-Rex on her first day of school. Both books are by Ryan T. Higgins and share the same deadpan humor, but Penelope Rex has her own series.
What is the lesson at the end of the book?
The book does not state a lesson out loud. The class goldfish takes a bite out of Penelope’s finger, and Penelope finally understands why the other kids do not want to be her friend. The book ends with the kids deciding to try again, and Penelope promising to try not to eat anyone today.
Are there other Penelope Rex books?
Yes. The Penelope Rex series has five books: We Don’t Eat Our Classmates, We Will Rock Our Classmates, We Don’t Lose Our Class Goldfish, Penelope Rex and the Problem with Pets, and Bundle Up, Penelope Rex. All are by Ryan T. Higgins and published by Disney-Hyperion.
What books are like this one?
Try the rest of the Penelope Rex series, the Mother Bruce series by the same author, Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems, and We Are Growing by Laurie Keller. For similar impulse-control humor, try Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein.
