Book excerpt: Count on Miss Mingo and her irresistible class of critters to make a special school-year milestone a day to remember. It’s the hundredth day of school, and Miss Mingo the Flamingo has quite a day planned for her diverse class of animals. First, the students share projects that celebrate the number one hundred: Centipede does one hundred jumping jacks, Panda shows off two bundles of fifty bamboo stalks, and other students share five sets of twenty footprints and other combos to get to the magic number. Later the class works together to create sculptures out of one hundred paper cups (Octopus is particularly helpful), and the day becomes as much about self-expression as it is a number—especially when Miss Mingo has the whole class make silly faces for one hundred seconds! In the fourth book of her ingenious series, Jamie Harper invites readers into Miss Mingo’s warm, creative classroom for a story inspired by hundredth-day activities in real schools, combining a lively text that integrates fascinating facts about the animals with humorously detailed illustrations that capture the students’ excited energy. Readers will easily find one hundred things to love about Miss Mingo’s joyful celebration, as well as fun ideas for planning their own.