Phillip Done knows it is a child's birthday without looking at the calendar, that broken candy canes do not taste as good as unbroken ones, that peanut M&Ms spark in the microwave (Peeps do not), and that measuring the diameter of an Oreo cookie is more fun than measuring the diameter of a coffee can lid. After pumping up his 500th red rubber ball, he decided it was time to write it all down. Hence, 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny and Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind: Thoughts on Teacherhood were born.A veteran of twenty-plus years in the classroom, Done is a five-time champion of the staff watermelon-eating contest and was nominated for the Disney Teacher of the Year Award. He took a pie in the face at the school talent show and was honored as a Teacher of the Year in California. When not searching for envelopes for newly pulled teeth or making rain parkas out of Hefty bags on rainy field trips, Phil accepted the prestigious Charles Schwab Distinguished Teacher Award from Charles Schwab himself. (He refrained from asking Mr. Schwab if Intel was a good buy.) Born in San Jose, California, he grew up in Sunnyvale, attended Fremont High School, and studied music and education at San Jose State University. His passions are teaching, old movies, and garage sales. Phil's writing and teaching advice has also appeared in The New York Times, Real Simple, The Chicago Tribune, Instructor, Parent and Child, and NEA Today.