Wayside School Series

by Louis Sachar

This beloved comic middle-grade series is set in a school that was supposed to be built as a single-story building with thirty classrooms side by side — but was accidentally built thirty stories tall with one classroom on each floor — and follows the deeply peculiar students and teachers of the thirtieth floor through a series of absurdist and surreal episodes. The series is a classic of nonsense comedy for children, celebrated for its inventive humor, logical illogic, and affectionate weirdness.

Books in The Wayside School series in order:

Sideways Stories from Wayside School Book cover
#
1
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Recommended For Ages
7
+

Wayside School was accidentally built sideways—thirty stories tall with one classroom on each floor—and the students and teachers are just as wonderfully strange as the building, leading to a series of absurdist, hilarious short stories. A modern classic of elementary school humor.

Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger Book cover
#
3
Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger
Recommended For Ages
7
+

The students of Wayside School return for more absurdist adventures, including a substitute teacher who hypnotizes students, a cow on the roof, and the mystery of the missing Mrs. Jewls. Another hilarious collection of interconnected stories.

Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom Book cover
#
4
Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom
Recommended For Ages
7
+

After a long hiatus, the students of Wayside School return for more surreal adventures, including dealing with a cloud of doom, a new cafeteria, and the ongoing strangeness of their thirty-story school. A continuation of the series' trademark absurdist humor.