Life Lessons Learned in Grade School - Part One is a series of over thirty stories, each with a moral or lesson involved. Part One covers kindergarten through third grade and Part Two covers fourth grade through sixth grade. These are the character-building moments most parents want their kids to learn at an early age.
The main character, Donny, lives through numerous adventures from 5 years old to 12 as he progresses from kindergarten through sixth grade. The humorous stories illustrate the innocence of childhood, where the main character is usually getting into trouble and learns things the hard way.
In the first chapter, Donny starts school at West Side Elementary wearing his cowboy outfit and six guns every day. He learns about trusting his fellow students and never stealing anything from anybody. The reader is introduced to his grandfather and other family members, who teach him valuable lessons. He also lives through the trauma of his first dental procedure-a filling without Novocain.
In the second grade, Donny adapts to a full day of school with no naps and no cowboy outfit. He begins cub scouts with a few buddies and they enjoy their first real train ride together. He gets into major trouble for ruining the roof of his parent's garage.
The seven-year-old learns how NOT to build a rocket, narrowly escaping a total catastrophe. The reader is introduced to their family celebration of Christmas. Somehow, at this age, the boy becomes fascinated by snowballs crashing onto windshields.
Third grade presents new challenges at school. The 8-year-old boy is interested in exploring caves and going to Disneyland. In the summer, he goes on vacation with his family to Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills in South Dakota. He learns firsthand what a tourist trap is by visiting Wall Drug. A new life is brought into the family while the reader gets introduced to Donny's faithful dog, Chris, who loves to chase sticks and motorcycles.
These stories are intended for middle-grade to young adults because they recently experienced many similar circumstances in their own lives and need to learn the consequences of bad decisions. Likewise, older readers will remember their childhood adventures fondly, through the exploits of this youngster.
This 36,000-word collection of stories is similar in size to other middle-grade and young-adult books. This is the fifth book written by Don Eggspuehler. He has two published works: one a family memoir about his deceased wife and her battle with brain cancer, titled Star Benchwarmers, and a historical fiction novel of his hometown of Iowa Falls, Iowa, and its early settlers, titled Teachings From Pop. He has also written two thrillers that have not been published, titled Solar Upheaval and Cartel Abduction, each about 70,000 words in length.
