Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka

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Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka

4.14 of 5 stars 4.14 · rating details · 1,933 ratings · 500 reviews

How did Jon Scieszka get so funny, anyway? Growing up as one of six brothers was a good start, but that was just the beginning. Throw in Catholic school, lots of comic books, lazy summers at the lake with time to kill, babysitting misadventures, TV shows, jokes told at family dinner, and the result is Knucklehead. Part memoir, part scrapbook, this hilarious trip down memor...more

Paperback, 106 pages

Published October 2nd 2008 by Viking Juvenile

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Jun 07, 2008 Monica Edinger rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished-reading, award-worthy

This was a very quick and enjoyable read. I read the ARC (as the book is due out this fall) and will be curious to see how it looks in its final form. It consists of a series of short amusing stories about the author's childhood. Very boyish, lighthearted, and a lot of fun to read. There are stories that made me think of other books (e.g. several...er...pissing...episodes), but there didn't seem to be as many injured animals in this one (especially if you don't count Jon's youngest brother). One...more

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Jul 14, 2009 Malbadeen rated it 5 of 5 stars

The problem with Jon Scieszka is that I like him so unabashedly that I'm not sure I can be objective about his books. He is funny in a silly but not an immature way. He is honest with kids (laughingly admitting that not only does he watch t.v - uh, ah, hush. hush. but he gets ideas from t.v.) His respect for kids is evident in his demeanor, his writing and other professional pursuits.

He's like the relative you're actually excited to see at the family reunion. And this book is like being the you...more

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Jun 24, 2008 Lynn rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a treat! The format is so appealing - it looks
like a comic book and the chapters are short and filled with the
exploits of 6 little boys growing up in Flint, Michigan. Boys will
love this book! If you are a boy, were a boy, grew up with boys or
raised or taught boys you will love this book! It is the kind of book
you read aloud to anyone within earshot. Or you try to read it aloud.
I was laughing so hard I had to end up giving the book to my husband
to read for himself. There is a chapter...more

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Mar 08, 2009 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book triggered great memories from my own childhood. I wasn't a "boy" but did all the boy kind of things with my older brother. For me it was a walk back through time. Even down to the fort playing war, I lived in an open area, blowing up models. My brother and I would spend hours making army models and minutes blowing them up. Can't remember where the firecrackers came from. Building forts was the best and with all the open area and scrap wood around we never tired. The only roll was to be...more

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Aug 22, 2008 Betsy rated it 4 of 5 stars

To adults that don’t normally wander through the shelves of children’s literature the notion of the autobiography for kids is a pretty odd beast. You write a book about yourself, sure. But why would you make the primary audience for that book people who think that boogers and farts are the height of wit and sophistication? Fact of the matter is an autobiography written with a child audience in mind needs a hook. Your life, particularly your life as a kid, has to have had something interesting ab...more To adults that don’t normally wander through the shelves of children’s literature the notion of the autobiography for kids is a pretty odd beast. You write a book about yourself, sure. But why would you make the primary audience for that book people who think that boogers and farts are the height of wit and sophistication? Fact of the matter is an autobiography written with a child audience in mind needs a hook. Your life, particularly your life as a kid, has to have had something interesting about it. Many of us probably look back on those years only to sigh and determine that absolutely nuthin’ interesting went on back then that would sufficiently engage a ten-year-old. Not Jon Scieszka. You want a hook? Try five brothers. Five brothers and Catholic school. Five brothers and Catholic school and a mess of stories involving bodily functions and super cool (and not so cool) toys. Mr. Scieszka proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that when it comes to recounting your youth, there’s nothing like a plethora of XX chromosomes to keep the readers reading.

He was born the second Scieszka, after Jim, before Tom, Gregg, Brian, or Jeff. You want to know where the author of books like The Stinky Cheese Man gets his ideas? This book provides the answer. Using bite sized chapters rarely more than two to three pages in length we get a firsthand account of what it’s like to grow up as a child of the fifties and sixties alongside five other bros where being a guy takes up all of your time. The book is written in such a way that readers are almost encouraged to flip back and forth through it to get all the good stuff, but in the order they prefer. So if you happened to skip Chapter 13 about Gregg’s broken collarbone and you get to Chapter 19 which references the incident in passing, never fear. It’s easy to take Knucklehead as it comes to you. There are thirty-eight chapters in total and each one's a heckuva lot of fun.

Read enough of these authorial auto-bios and after a while you start seeing similarities. That section about peeing on the heater in the bedroom? Well that’s mighty similar to the peeing on the heater section in Chris Crutcher’s book King of the Mild Frontier. Not because one was cribbed from the other or anything. It just seems that peeing on heaters is one of those universal things boys like to do, and it sure does make for great reading. As I read Scieszka’s book I also started flashing back to some talks I’ve heard fellow author Eoin Colfer give about his own years with a big family, and the disgusting hijinks he and his siblings engaged in. When the candid and the funny are one and the same, you’ve got the makings of a hit on your hands.

Actually, maybe I shouldn't use the word "candid". Since the subtitle of this book says that it involves “tall tales and mostly true stories” then the readers should have some fun trying to figure out where Jon exaggerates. It’s tough. A lot of these are so weird you can’t help but think they’re true. That story about how Jon would faux call the Bad Boys’ Home while brother sitting? Sounds about right. The one about breaking Gregg’s collarbone? Jon has the photographic proof right there (and even a picture where Gregg looks like he’s a “third-grade pro football player”). No, I think my doubting Thomas nature came into play more along the lines of the chapter called “Car Trip” which involves brothers, a cat, and an unfortunate pecan nut log in a vomit-fest that certainly strains at the tensile threats of my credulity. And maybe the dry cleaning bag incident. I mean it’s just too cool.

The design of this book is groovy, keen, awesome, neato no question. From the faux ads on the back to the sheer overwhelming swath of photographs, graphs, x-rays, pictures, and clip art peppered throughout, this puppy’s a visual humdinger. The kind of thing that makes you scratch your head and say, “I wonder if he would have gotten this much cool art design help if he wasn’t our National Ambassador of Children’s Literature?” Which is an uncharitable thought, perhaps, so you’d have to banish it from your brain forthwith and just enjoy the pictures instead. It’s clear that Mr. Scieszka, creator of the Guys Read movement that encourages boys to read, knows how to make an autobiography that reluctant readers will dig. Everything about this book is tailor made for the kid who thinks that they don’t like books. The chapters are very short and the text continually broken up by the visuals.

In New York anyway the go-to autobiography assigned by teachers over and over again is Jerry Spinelli’s Knots in My Yo-Yo String. Now at long last it looks as if Jerry will finally see a challenger to his throne. I’ve heard Mr. Scieszka present one or two of the chapters of this book live and since he has a tendency to go off-script (particularly when he’s discussing his own life) there are things he has mentioned live that didn’t quite make it into Knucklehead. That’s okay. I don’t think anyone’s going to accuse the man of not including enough information. As a reluctant reader pick and the kind of autobiography kids are going to fight to read first, this book is definitely a must-add title for any library’s shelves. Good clean stuff. Without the “clean” part so much.

Ages 9-12.(less)

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Nov 10, 2009 Christina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: humor, biography

Hilarious book! Jon Scieszka's fiction books are always funny, (think of The Stinky Cheese Man and try not to laugh!) but this memoir of his years growing up with his crazy brothers is knee-slappingly funny. From pranks they played on each other to the horrors of hand-me-down clothing to everything in between, and illustrated with photos from the Scieszka family album, you'll find yourself wishing your family was half as much fun. A good companion book to Chris Crutcher's King of the Mild Fronti ...more

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Apr 15, 2011 Abby rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is a really awesome book!!! My absolute favorite part was when the blew up all their mini army men!! I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 because it was really funny, and had great descriptions!!

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Apr 27, 2013 Luisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This nonfiction piece is told in short vignettes about Jon Scieszka’s childhood. Photographs and other illustrations pepper the humorous narrative describing life as the second of six brothers growing up in Flint, Michigan in the early 60s. Scieszka’s father was a school principal and his mother a nurse which helped with organizing the crazy household and mending the boys’ various injuries. I kept flipping back to the photos of the six boys at the beginning of the book to see the boy whose colla...more

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Apr 03, 2009 Erik rated it 5 of 5 stars

I’m admittedly not a huge fan of Sciezska’s work in the YA genre, I have been a great admirer of his efforts to promote literacy for young boys. (A sure way to my heart, having been a picky and somewhat reluctant reader myself in my elementary years.) And when I saw this beautifully bound memoir of Scieszka’s youth growing up in Flint, Michigan – with its Combat and Sgt. Rock-style comic-book cover (complete with an early photo of him photo-shopping onto the head of the solider in the tank) – I...more

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Mar 27, 2009 Josie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka
by Jon Scieszka
Published by Viking
2008
Non-Fiction: Autobiography

Jon Scieszka tells tales of his childhood in Knucklehead. The book is very funny and especially appealing to young boys. Reluctant readers can benefit from the structure of the book: short chapters that really can be read in any order. They will also find Scieszka's memories of his childhood easy to read and relate to. There is a great deal of intimacy established...more

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Feb 08, 2009 paula rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s, nonfiction, great-nonfiction-for-kids, if-you-liked-diary-of-a-wimpy-kid

Jon Scieszka has five brothers. Jon Scieszka is a funny writer. Ergo, Jon Scieszka's stories about growing up with his five brothers = funny. Oh yeah - I laughed out loud. I read bits aloud to the librarians in the workroom who wanted to know just what was so damn funny, and they laughed out loud. But we're moms. Moms of boys. We have to think boys are funny, or else go googoo and end up carted away in a van.

And I also believe that Knucklehead will make children laugh out loud. There is fire, th...more Jon Scieszka has five brothers. Jon Scieszka is a funny writer. Ergo, Jon Scieszka's stories about growing up with his five brothers = funny. Oh yeah - I laughed out loud. I read bits aloud to the librarians in the workroom who wanted to know just what was so damn funny, and they laughed out loud. But we're moms. Moms of boys. We have to think boys are funny, or else go googoo and end up carted away in a van.

And I also believe that Knucklehead will make children laugh out loud. There is fire, there is urination. There is getting away with stuff, and there is not a single one of those Peruvian hats with the pigtails down the side that make everyone - EVERYONE - look like Luke Wilson making his very best confused face.

Sorry. Distracted. Been writing in a coffee house lately while my house gets some work done. ("While we're in there fixing the deviated ceiling, how about we give you a whole new kitchen at the same time? Wouldn't you like your kitchen to look like... THIS?" I believe that's also how my mother's cousin Margaret got Patty Duke's nose.)

Back to Knucklehead. Funny, definitely funny. Very reminiscent of Bill Sleator's Oddballs, also a collection of funny stories from the author's childhood, many involving mud. And while the author packs in plenty of forbidden fruit, like how to construct a mortar ("Don't try this at home" - yeah thanks, Mr. Ambassador. My kids get ahold of this and we can say bye-bye to the attic window! (If we're lucky.)), there are also tons of positive messages about the joys of playing outside, the glories of Go, Dog. Go!, the good things about grandparents, Reading Is Fun, and... the value of military academy. Also, the chapters are short enough and the reading level low enough to hand it to, oh, grade 2 and above.

But the thing is, I have never successfully gotten a kid to read Oddballs. The fault in the case of that book may lie with the cover, which is I think more appealing to grownups who like Joseph Cornell and Robertson Davies than it is to kids. But it may be the nostalgia. It may be that kids just aren't as interested in true-life stories that aren't recognizable to them.

If it's the cover, the Scieszka book is going to go better: the cover of Knuckleheads resembles a pulp comic book, with 9-year-old G.I. Jon popping out of a tank turret. But if it's the nostalgia... listen, I'm only ten years younger than our Ambassador, but the world described in Knuckleheads already feels like my parents' generation. Men in skinny ties, nuns in habits with full wimple.

On the other hand, the family that took us in and fed us last night mentioned that they are reading Knuckleheads together, and laughing their butts off. Specifically, the Crossing Swords chapter was mentioned, and I'll say this: "Crossing Swords," in which Scieszka describes how he and his brothers could turn even going to the bathroom into an opportunity for imaginative play (and hoo boy is that the most sedate description you'll ever read for that particular activity!), may well establish this book as the passed-around page-marked Diary of a Wimpy Kid for this year. I'll even go so far as to call those few pages Jon Scieszka's ticket to immortality, and that's saying something.

Certainly we'll be mentioning his name as we mop up the bathroom floor - here's to you, Mr. Ambassador!(less)

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Jan 01, 2009 Scope rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sometimes, reading a book is like getting to the end of a bag of peanut M&Ms - you slow down, savoring things, hoping that the end won’t come. Essentially a collection of short stories about family and growing up, “Knucklehead” fits this profile. Funny, honest, and infinitely readable, Jon Scieszka’s memoir about his youth in Flint, Michigan will appeal to wide swaths of young readers.

Mr. Scieszka provides the set up right from the get go:

"[A] lot of readers ask me where I get my ideas. I t...more

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Dec 21, 2008 Karin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, funny, juvenile-nonfiction, jocks, borrowed-from-the-library, 2012-caudill-nominees

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Jon grew up with his parents and his 5 brothers in a small house in Flint, Michigan. The brothers got into plenty of scraps with one another, which earned them the fond “knuckleheads!” appellation from their father. My favorite story is the one where Jon and his brother “put out” their space heater by peeing on it. Yeah, that wasn’t a great idea. A close second is the story about how the boys’ mother is more concerned with proper grammar and vocabulary than she is about the fact that her sons ar...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Liz rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: auto-biographical-picture-book, childrens-literature, nonfiction

Week 12: Bio
Part memoir, part scrapbook, this book leads readers into the life of Jon Scieszka, growing up in Michigan with 5 brothers. Jon gained his free-spirit, funny mentality while taking part in a mix of shenanigans while growing up Scieszka. Catholic school, summers at the lake, babysitting mishaps, and the science behind picking out names for 6 boys; this book will definitely keep readers thrilled and entertained.

"Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka" i...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Lynn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great tween selection, especially for boys.

There isn't a boy out there who won't see themselves in Scieska's childhood antics (girls, too!).

The reluctant reader at my school who I first gave this book to was absolutely delighted with it. I think what he loved most about it was that, not only could he relate to it, but the chapters are short (maximum 3 pages), there are fun and interesting illustrations and photos on every page, and LOTS OF STORIES ABOUT BLOWING UP THINGS (in a good way):-)!!

Ad...more

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Oct 09, 2012 Erin Mccall added it

There is the definite overall biographical style in Knucklehead, which is set in a nearly chronological order. Knucklehead is anecdotal more so than factual. Incorporating the opinions of his adult self (“Even today, forty years later, I still avoid brown clothes.” p. 21), the flow is like storytelling, anecdotal rather than factual. Scieszka acknowledges the reader (“You might imagine… And you would be right.” p. 21) and invites him/her to participate in his childhood theough multiple media, i...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Bradley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jon Scieszka has written a lot of great books for kids like “The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales” and all of the Time Warp Trio books. Now he has written a great book called “Knucklehead” about how he grew up in Michigan with his 5 brothers—that’s right 6 boys in his family, 7 if you count the dad and 8 if you count the cat. This book will make you understand how Jon Scieszka got so funny. You will read about how his brother tried to sell him his own shirt, how he made money whil...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Karen Yingling rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jon Scieszka's memoir was the most hysterical thing I have read in a while. The only problem I have with it is this: Why has this man not done a fiction series of books for middle school boys just like this? Yes, the picture books are fun, the Time Warp Trio is good, but all of these are a little young for middle school. We want OUR turn, O God of Boys' Literature. I'm sure you could mine your adolescent years for some funny stories about life, love and acne.

Picked this one up at lunch and flipp...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Anna Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is laugh-out-loud funny! As the mother of two boys and a former cub scout den mother, I can really relate to many of the anecdotes in this book. Jon Scieszka describes growing up in Flint, Michigan in the 1950’s in a family of six boys. Jon and his brothers are educated by nuns in habits at a catholic school. They play army, roughhouse, swear, shoot firecrackers, babysit their little brothers, and get into all kinds of mischief. Percolating through it all is Jon’s obvious love of readi...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Leslie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile, chapter-book-8-11, non-fiction, a-boy-s-shelf

Requested this from the Library after reading Melissa’s (at “Book Nut”) review; I was looking for a guaranteed laugh. Melissa writes, “It’s a sweet book, full of humor and affection,” and it truly is.

Are you curious as to what kind of childhood might inspire a writer and literary activist such as Jon Sciezska? I hope you’ve come across The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, or The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. And/or do you know Scieszka’s name as the first National Ambassad...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Caris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Caris by: Pam

Shelves: 2011

So I’m convinced that Ulysses might be one of the worst books ever written. I decided to take a break and read something else. That something else happened to be this one, as it was recently recommended to me.

When I started it, I had no idea who Jon Scieszka was. As such, I had no idea why I was reading his memoirish kids’ book. I flipped to the jacket and read his bio (reading an author bio on a memoir- how meta is that?).

Turns out, I did know this guy. He wrote The True Story of the 3 Little P...more

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Dec 08, 2010 Chris Murray rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, humor, non-fiction

Scieszka Jon. Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka(2008)
This book is a funny autobiography of the popular children’s author, Jon Scieszka, who grew up in Flint, MI the second child in a family of six boys. Boys will be boys as Scieszka proves with his memories of breaking bones, climbing trees, smashing bikes and generally horsing around. Written partially in response to the question of where he gets his ideas, Knucklehead shows that the everyday stuff of life a...more

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Sep 08, 2010 Kermit rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.7 stars What's not to like about Jon Scieszka? When I was a school librarian, I used to do a Jon Scieszka unit with 5th grade. I'd bring out a bottle of Fresca to remind students that Scieszka rhymes with Fresca.
These are Mr. Scieszka's tales of growing up with 5 brothers in Flint, Michigan. He was the 2nd brother of the 6. He had a happy, normal childhood. His father was an elementary school principal, and his mother was a nurse. He and his brothers attended Catholic school, and he has some...more

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Jul 28, 2010 Seth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Amost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka is a great book! This non-fiction autobiography is told in a compelling, funny, and honest way that Scieszka brings you smack into his life. First of all Scieszka does a great job of getting children and readers of all ages to relate to him. Just because he is an adult, it shouldn't mean kids cannot relate to him. Often times I feel adults put themselves at opposite ends of children ... they are always saying t...more Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Amost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka is a great book! This non-fiction autobiography is told in a compelling, funny, and honest way that Scieszka brings you smack into his life. First of all Scieszka does a great job of getting children and readers of all ages to relate to him. Just because he is an adult, it shouldn't mean kids cannot relate to him. Often times I feel adults put themselves at opposite ends of children ... they are always saying things like... "well, back in my day kids used to do this..."
Scieszka never does this. In fact I love that he doesn't do this... he just tells it like it is with no apologies either. Scieszka grew up in the 60's, and the 60's seem so far from 2010 that kids might feel they could never relate to it, but what people of all ages can relate to is the bonding between siblings, and this is what this book brings to the table. Scieszka grew up with 5 other brothers in a Catholic family attending Catholic school and having nuns for teachers. He does a great job of showing how he felt scared at times in school or whether or not he'd make the right decision in class even if it meant he might get in trouble for it. He talks about how often he played outside with his brothers and the kids on his block. This was the part of the story I could really relate to. "When I was a kid" my friends and I played outside all day long until our moms called us inside for dinner. We would make up games that were fun and probably dangerous, but we didn't know any better and no one ever got hurt. After reading this book I got in a discussion with my girlfriend about this book. I said back kids today don't play outside enough... they are glued to their video games. My generation I thought was much more balanced in playing outside and playing with video games than todays current generation of kids.
I also relate to this book because I remember trying to trick my sister into things that I wanted or how it felt for she to get away with stuff that I often couldn't or vice versa. Scieszka also includes real photographs from childhood. Even the covers of the book are eye capturing. In the book he talks about how he read Mad Magazine and there were advertisements for army toys he'd always want to buy. On the back cover of this book it appears to have advertisements, but really they are funny excerpts that deal with different parts of his life he contains throughout the pages of this book. The only thing I would have liked to see at the end of the book are maybe a few short comments from each of his brothers that read the book... like their take on the book or on Jon growing up. I felt like that would have made the book more complete.

But overall, this book was hilarious and relatable. Most Scieszka books are meant for younger children, but this one is probably more for a 6th grader... I kind of want my Dad to read this book though because I feel that he'd be able to relate to the time period Scieszka grew up in... then again, almost anyone could relate to this book if they have a family and used to play outside. (less)

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Mar 01, 2009 Erika rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: reluctant readers, esp. boys

Recommended to Erika by: Jon Scieska at the National Book Festival

Shelves: reluctant-readers

Scieska's memoir of his childhood with five brothers is hilarious and touching. It is great snapshot of what life was like for a lot of kids in 50s and 60s America...I just wish it had an introduction that talked a bit about how life has changed...

Cindy and I saw Scieska at the National Book Festival and he read excerpts from the then-unreleased book to the crowd. Waves of laughter filled the tent and I couldn't wait to buy the book for my collection...

Now after having read it..

As a Polish-Ameri...more

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Feb 01, 2011 MrsB rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: rebecca-caudill

RC 2012--Let's say 4 3/4 stars! I was sitting at home with no power in the middle of the blizzard laughing so loudly that the rest of my family told me to shut up! Thankfully for them, this book only took an hour to read. This is my first book on the new Rebecca Caudill list, and I was not drawn in by the cover. However, after the first page I was hooked! I think that adults are actually going to appreciate this more than the students because I don't think our current students have lived lives l...more

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May 16, 2013 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio-books, autobiography, brothers, catholic-school, family, funny, michigan, reading

A laugh-out-loud autobiography by a big name author in children's literature. I listened to the audiobook version of these stories and what I loved most about it was the careful construction of what stories were told. It's not a complete life story, it's short stories about moments that help readers understand what influenced the author as a boy.

Scieszka covers all the mischief he and his 5 brothers got into while growing up as well as his many adventures in schooling, Catholic schooling that is...more

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Mar 06, 2012 IndyPL Kids Book Blog rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories about Growing up Scieszka. That’s right, Scieszka - Jon Scieszka, the guy who wrote The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Stinky Cheese Man and the Time Warp Trio books. Jon is also the very first National Ambassador for Young People’s LIterature. It’s hard to believe he started out a knucklehead!

This is Jon’s story growing up with the other knuckleheads: Jim, Tom, Gregg, Brian and Jeff - his FIVE brothers. And their story is pretty funny. T...more

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Dec 06, 2009 Judi Paradis rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book, but wonder if children will. Knucklehead provides a number of episodes from Scieszka's childhood in the 1950s-60s in Michigan, where he was from a very large family of boys. I grew up at the same time, in a very large family of girls, and expected to see lots of parallels between my life and his--and I did. He does a good job of capturing the "kid culture" of the baby boom years. There are some funny, recognizable bits (my favorite is that they owned 4 Halloween costumes for 6...more

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Aug 08, 2012 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-lit, biography, non-fiction

Hilarious. As someone raised in a family of all girls, I was fascinated to learn some of the inner secrets of what goes on in a home of all boys. (I really felt for their mother!) Knucklehead was excellent because it felt like being invited into, not just a story about the life of Jon Scieszka, but a story of whole family. For me, that was excellent because I cannot separate myself from my own family, so it’s nice to see that reflected here. I like that Scieszka was so honest about saying they w...more

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About Jon Scieszka

Jon Scieszka is a writer and teacher. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two children. Occasionally he has been known to howl at the full moon. --from the dust jacket of "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs"

Jon Scieszka is also the author of the best-selling ALA Notable Book, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, as well as Knights of the Kitchen Table, and The Not-So-Jolly Roger...more

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The Stinky Cheese Man: And Other Fairly Stupid Tales

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3321722-knucklehead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1329864888l/3321722.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3321722-knucklehead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka[/url]

Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka

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