KitCat
Teachers and parents should love this book, if they are amused by concrete thinkers' struggle to understand the abstract and the rules that govern "proper English." Hyman Kaplan has come to the US from Eastern Europe in the 1930's and he is attending night school to learn English and to understand more about this wonderful country. His classmates are all adults from Europe and Asia; all want to understand English better to fit in better.
Kaplan is so proud of America, of what it promises, and of what it offers. This book masters malapropisms in a delightful way. While he is in a class with adults, think middle school. That's where the more concrete elementary school education starts to meet the more abstract and complicated world; it is the meshing of two universes.
Hyman Kaplan holds no grudges. He is proud of his education and of understanding (in his way) the world of English writing and literature. His rendition of "O, K*a*p*l*a*n! My K*a*p*l*a*n!" will show the celebration of his love of poetry.
