Kids may not wish to be in Miss Swamp’s classes, but they are more than willing to proudly sport her image on the backs of their sweaty little hands. Not Frances from Bread and Jam for Frances. Not the Mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. You’d be surprised how popular that one turned out to be. We had a number of different hand stamps available for the kiddies, and on one of them was the cold hard stare of Miss Viola Swamp. Three years ago I was available to do my fair share of work. Once a year Columbia University plays host to a children’s festival, and New York Public Library is usually on hand to sign kids and parents up for library cards. Actually, for their collaborations, Allard often provided the story ideas, but Marshall, a consummate wordsmith, crafted each line of the text with as much care as he drew each image.” The book goes on to say, “A more-than-generous individual, Marshall gave Allard the title of author on their books. Only the telltale black dress hanging in her closet suggests that there may be more to the class’s transformation than initially meets the eye.”Īccording to 100 Best Books for Children, the story behind Miss Nelson is Missing is that one day Harry Allard called up James Marshall at three in the morning and yelled at him, “Miss Nelson is missing!”. Finally, one day Miss Nelson comes back and the class is as well behaved as it can be. Unfortunately, no one seems to be able to find her. It’s not too long after Miss Swamp’s arrival that the children start yearning for the lovely Miss Nelson. They are crushed by homework and forced to do work that’s exceedingly difficult. A true crone through and through, Miss Swamp immediately whips the children into shape. In her place is the nasty, mean, foul-tempered witch Miss Viola Swamp. One day, however, Miss Nelson does not come to school. They were rude and nasty and they didn’t pay any attention to their sweet-natured teacher Miss Nelson.

The synopsis from my review describes this book this way: “As the book points out immediately, the kids in Room 207 were the worst behaved class in the whole school. Clearly I’m the only person in the world with any affection for that book. Crazier still, I just checked the last poll and the same thing happened last time. I can understand not loving Miss Nelson Has a Field Day, but since my first introduction to Viola Swamp came via Miss Nelson is Back on a Reading Rainbow segment I expected at least one person to mention her. The kind of crazy thing is that Miss Nelson is Missing! was the only Miss Nelson book to be nominated in any way, shape, or form. Miss Viola Swamp is the best alter ego ever. She certainly fooled me, and I read this book countless times in childhood trying to figure out just how she pulled it off. #29 Miss Nelson is Missing! by Harry Allard, illustrated by James Marshall (1977)

Harry allard and james marshall