Charlie Bumpers wants to play the bad guy in the class play, but his teacher Mrs. Burke has other ideas.
Charlie Bumpers has his heart set on playing the role of the evil Sorcerer in the fourth-grade play. But his dreams of villainous stardom go up in smoke when he finds out that Mrs. Burke has cast him as the Nice Gnome! Determined to rectify this terrible injustice, Charlie concocts one plan after another, but nothing seems to work.
To make matters worse, his dad has assigned chores to all the kids in the family, and Charlie's job is walking Ginger—the diggiest, sniffiest, and poopiest dog in the universe. Can Charlie deal with these challenges without causing havoc all around him? Black and white illustrations throughout.

Bill Harley is a two-time Grammy Award–winning storyteller, musician, and author who has been writing and performing for kids and families for more than forty years. He has appeared nationally in theaters, schools, libraries, festivals and conferences, as a workshop leader and keynote and inspirational speaker. His picture books and middle-grade novels have won wide acclaim, from Bank Street School of Education Best Books, Children's Choice Awards, Green Earth Book Awards, and pick of the list from ABA.
Harley was called "the Mark Twain of contemporary children's music" by Entertainment Weekly. He lives in Massachusetts.

Adam Gustavson holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts and a BFA from Rowan University and has taught at Seton Hall University and Philadelphia's University of the Arts. He is the award-winning illustrator of over thirty books for children. He lives, paints, teaches, and plays music in his home state of New Jersey, along with his charming family and a neurotic poodle.