Knucklehead

Scieszka, Jon. 2008. Knucklehead:Tall tales and mostly true stories about growing up Scieszka. New York: Viking.

If you know a reluctant reader with a biography book report assigned, and you don't point him toward Knuckleheads, you're missing a great opportunity to turn that child into a great reader. Scieszka knows his audience and his biography is right on target. His biography humorously details the events in his childhood that led him to his current success as an author. Raised in a family of six boys and hard-working parents, he has a wealth of material to work with.

He mentions his many of his favorite childhood stories, Mad Magazine, My Side of the Mountain, Go, Dog. Go!, and more. He was not a fan of Dick and Jane.

"When I read the Dick and Jane stories, I thought they were afraid they might forget each other's names. Because they always said each other's names. A lot.

So if Jane didn't see the dog, Dick would say, 'Look Jane. Look. There is the dog next to Sally, Jane. The dog is also next to Mother, Jane. The dog is next to Father, Jane. Ha, ha, ha. That is funny, Jane.'

Did I mention that Dick and Jane also had a terrible sense of humor?

At home, my mom read me real stories. These were stories that sounded like my life. These were stories that made sense. She read me a story about a guy named Sam-I-am. He was a fan of green eggs and ham."

Knuckleheads, his father's name for the collective Scieszka boys, is full of life's great lessons - read, if it sounds to good to be true - it is, listen, learn to cook (because stirring oatmeal is more fun than picking up dog poop!), have a sense of humor.

Chapter 36, "What's so funny, Mr. Scieszka?" will have the reader in stitches.

Black and white graphics and period photos and advertisements add humor and interest - Gregg's broken collarbone x-ray and the dreaded Halloween bunny suit come to mind.
This is a heartwarming and hilarious biography that will entice even the most reluctant of readers. And for budding humorists, Knuckleheads is a "must read."


A note about Jon Scieszka (rhymes with Fresca):

Jon Scieszka is the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. He is probably best known for his Time Warp Trio series and The Stinky Cheese Man, although these are just a fraction of his large and growing collection of juvenile fiction, easy fiction, non-fiction, and poetry titles. His main focus is promoting reading to boys. To this end, he has two great websites: Guys Read http://www.guysread.com/ focusing on older boys, and Trucktown,
http://www.behindthepulse.com/trucktown/kidspage.php , (a site with a tortuously long url)that corresponds with his new preschool series , Trucktown.

My favorite Jon Scieszka stories? "Duck-billed Platypus vs. Beef Snack Stick," and "Straw and Matches," from Squids Will be Squids.

Seer of Shadows

A video booktalk for Seer of Shadows by Avi

Phillies in Phive!

The Phillies are the new World Series champions, their first World Series title since 1980!

Phantastic!

Now, someone, please, write a new children's book about my favorite team!

Maze of Bones

Since all of my library’s copies of The 39 Clues: Maze of Bones, were checked out, I tired of waiting and uploaded the book from CD to my mp3. Maze of Bones is the first in a scheduled, ten-book series, and is the continuing saga of Amy and Dan Cahill and their quest to find the mysterious 39 clues. (see earlier posts for more details on the storyline)

The first installment is written by Rick Riordan, and read by David Pittu. Pittu does an admirable job inventing accents and distinct voices for the many characters of varying nationalities - no small feat and very helpful in sorting out the many members of the vast and varied Cahill clan. One minor complaint -his voice is not ideally suited for portraying the young female characters.

I don’t think that this series will be Scholastic’s answer to the Harry Potter void, but The 39 Clues concept has a lot of potential. The accompanying online game (http://www.39clues.com/) and trading cards add interest and intrigue to a story that contains enough of both to stand on its own. Several kids have told me that they enjoy the online game. The online quest does not require the player to read the book (a shame in my opinion).

As a public librarian, I'm not too sure about how the enclosed trading cards will work. The cards contain a code that can be used to obtain clues for the online quest. The downside - the code may only be used once - making them impractical for public library circulation. I understand that future library editions will not contain trading cards. Hopefully, the cards are not essential in solving the mystery.

It will be interesting to see how future authors will pick up on the threads of Rick Riordan, and if the interest will grow with each new book. Anything that entices kids to read is a winner in my book, so I hope the multi media concept is successful!

A co-worker described Maze of Bones as "National Treasure meets Spy Kids. " I can't sum it up any better than that. Enjoy!

Book #2 is due out in January and will be written by Gordon Korman.

NOTE: I just discovered something! The audiobook has one more chapter than the print version does...more intrigue for followers of the 39 Clues!

Schooled by Gordon Korman

I've posted this Schooled booktalk before, but here it is in podcast form!I'm having great fun in my Tech Savvy Booktalker class and hopefully, the skills I'm learning will help me to reach out to more tech savvy kids! (The podcast is about 2 minutes in length. I hope someone enjoys it!)