A Book of Coupons was written by Susie Morgenstern and illustrated by Serge Bloch. This book was first published in France in 1999. Gill Rosner translated it and in 2002 it became a Batchelder Honor Book. A Book of Coupons is about a 5th grade class that returns to school after summer break to find that their new teacher is an old man, not the young handsome teacher they were expecting. The old man, Monsieur Noel, gives them a coupon books full of coupons to use that year such as "one coupon for sleeping in class", "one coupon for clowning around", and "one coupon for being late to school". He also teaches in a very non-traditional manner but it gets the students interested. He teaches them about patience, dancing, taking care of their teeth, Charles Dickens, and most importantly the "coupons" that life gives us. The students didn't even want to use their coupons for not listening in class or not coming to school because the classes were so interesting. Unfortunately the principal, Incarnation Perez, does not agree with Monsieur Noel's way of teaching and makes his job very difficult.
This book is a wonderful read for students because of the life lessons about using the "coupons" life has given us and learning as much as we can. A Book of Coupons is also an excellent read for teachers to help us remember why we teach and how important it is to work to inspire learning in our students, even when facing opposition from other. I highly recommend this book!
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