Room 207

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian living in Harvard,
Massachusetts.

On the first day of school, Principal Bellows announces that the winner
of this year’s Best Classroom Contest will spend seven days tasting
and creating 23 new flavours of ice cream at the Dream Cream Factory in
their town of Tatamagouche. Although Miss Chimney’s class had won the
contest four years in a row, this year their classroom has been
destroyed and they have been relegated to a dilapidated one-room
schoolhouse and told they can’t win the contest. As the kids fight for
their right to compete for the prize, they are faced with the additional
challenge of rescuing their teacher and classroom pet pig, both of whom
have been swallowed by a growing mass of slime. The kids’ teamwork
pays off and this accomplishment proves them worthy recipients of the
prize once again.

The cute cartoon illustrations of the cast of characters pictured at
the beginning of this chapter book sets the comical tone of the story
and engages the reader immediately. The plot features quirky characters
and fantastic situations, but it also provides an underlying lesson in
tolerance, teamwork, and understanding. There really isn’t one main
character, but as with any great team, all members make a strong
contribution. Highly recommended.