The turn-around ending is as much fun as seeing the villain punished. Teachers might be fine, but what about substitutes. A less threatening, but equally entertaining substitute teacher is in James Howe's The Day the Teacher Went Bananas. There is a terrible mix-up and the substitute is sent to the zoo and a gorilla becomes the teacher. The children are delighted with their new teacher, sad to see him leave and even go to lunch with him the following day.
Illustrations are bright and filled with the fun the children have.
For Tomie de Paola, his art teacher played an important role in his life. The Art Lesson is his autobiographical picture book revealing a teacher who went beyond conventional practice of copying art to see the needs of her talented student. Imagination, an important skill to learn, can happen even before a child gets to school. In Ann Jonas' The Trek, a child en route to school imagines animals everywhere. Not only is this is a great participatory book, it's a book that can be put into practice.