From my blog (Of Books and Boys):

Who was the worst, the meanest, teacher you ever had? I once knew one that made a girl clean up her own mess when she got sick in class. A first grader! And another mountain of a man who’d bellow from the front table anytime he thought someone wasn’t paying attention. “Paul! Get up here! Bring your notebook!” And if that notebook wasn’t word-for-word synced with the overhead transparency, he’d tear it up and roar, “Get out of here! “F” for the day!” And the poor More...

What is a dunderhead? A dunderhead is what the awful Miss Breakbone calls her students. She complains, also, that they are fiddling, twiddling, time-squandering, mind-wandering, doodling, dozing, and don’t-knowing. In this junior spy-thriller, a student named Einstein leads his class of misfits in the heist of an item confiscated by the wicked Miss Breakbone. The return of their fellow student’s treasured prize is the adventure of the year! This title is well suited for striving readers. Its 7” More...

Sid Fleischman's last book? In any event, perceptive as always, and clever. I don't usually love a story that's too lopsided in the kids vs. the grownups dept. You know - those stories that glorify the talents of the kids in contrast to the idiotically-behaving grownups in their lives. However, my memories of an awful, angry, and utterly unfair and inflexible junior high/senior high substitute teacher fit quite nicely into the mold of Miss Breakbone, Fleischman's very unlikeable teacher. If you' More...

Reading Comics shouldn’t be seen as an act of rebellion and reading Picture Books post second grade shouldn’t be a source of embarrassment. Especially with the works of Shaun Tan residing so comfortably on grown-up shelves. Course, it doesn’t hurt when the book isn’t formatted for two laps and is more popularly categorized as a “graphic novel.” The daughter (newly 11) and I huddled over the pages of Paul Fleischman authored and David Roberts illustrated The Dunderheads—a wonderful hybrid read fo More...

Dunderheads, unite! A tyrannical teacher gets her just due in a delightfully subversive, outrageously funny tale by Newbery Medal winner Paul Fleischman.

Miss Breakbone hates kids. Especially the time-squandering, mindwandering, doodling, dozing dunderheads in her class. But when she confiscates Junkyard’s crucial find, she finally goes too far. Enter Wheels (and his souped-up bike with forty-eight extra gears), Pencil (who can draw anything from memory), Spider (look up & you’ll find him), & More...

For what it is, I think this book is nearly perfect. The text and illustrations could each work independently and tell a story on their own, and together they give each other added depth and additional life.

Einstein is our first person narrator with a simple yet distinct voice and personality who tells the story of his class's confrontation with their mean and overbearing teacher (Miss Breakbone). Each classmate is defined by a quirky personality trait and/or defining interest (Wheels, Spitball, More...

A group of uniquely gifted kids called the Dunderheads set out to turn the tables on their mean teacher Miss Breakbone, who has stolen Junkyard's one-eared cat statue. Einstein, the clever leader who knows each kid's singular talent, deftly organizes the Dunderheads against Miss Breakbone as the kids go from passive victims to smart infiltrators who take back Junkyard's statue and win the day. Illustrator Roberts uses watercolor, pen, and ink to give each child an original look with clever visua More...

Miss Breakbone hates children. She is harsh, rude, and cruel. But worst of all, she is also a teacher. She calls her class Dunderheads, and one day goes too far in taking away a broken cat from one of the children. His nickname was Junkyard and he had found it in the trash, a perfect gift for his feline-loving mother. When Miss Breakbone basically dared Junkyard to try to get it back, the class turned to Einstein, a boy with a brilliant mind for figuring things out and the narrator of the story. More...

Clean lines, comical details and snappy, generous first person narration sweep us into this suspenseful tale of strategy, solidarity and overlooked superpowers.

You can listen in on our chat about this book on our Just One More Book! Children's Book Podcast.

Other books mentioned:
Iggy Peck, Architect
The Mysterious Benedict Society
Miss Nelson is Missing

More independent thinkers on JOMB:
Willow
Odd Velvet
Suki’s Kimono
Ruby’s Wish
Getting to Know Ruben Plotnick
Silly Tilly
more here.

We’d love to hear you More...

I read this to my 4 1/2 year olds and I'm not sure they really "got" it. It seemed the story was for a MUCH older child...7 or 8 years old?

With that in mind, here is what I liked about it:

The story was clever with every child having a specialty. Even though I felt like there were too many children to keep track of...it was still delightful. I kept hearing Mission Impossible music playing in my head. Lots of action, showing kids being strong, being leaders, and solving their own problems...albei More...

Great book! A stern, Miss Viola Swamp-like teacher, meets her match when she goes too far with her class of creatively talented misfits. Will surely appeal to early grade schoolers on up to the middle grades. Illustrations worthy of closer inspection as well!

Miss Breakbone is an evil teacher to rival Miss Trunchbull or Viola Swamp. She gives herself a gold star every time she makes a kid cry. And she thinks her students are just dunderheads. But when Miss Breakbone crosses the line, the so-called Dunderheads decide to get back what's theirs.

This is a fun book that kids will pore over, soaking up every interesting detail in the illustrations. I'd gladly hand it to fans of Roald Dahl or the Black Lagoon series. It's a little more than a picture book, More...

Too funny! When I was reading this, I kept hearing the theme music for "Mission Impossible," and I know that really dates me. Mrs. Breakbone really went to far when she took the cat figurine from Junkyard that he was planning on giving his mother for her birthday. The dunderheads unite to pull off a fantastically complex mission to rescue said kitty and give it back to Junkyard. Will they be able to rise to the challenge and outsmart their mean teacher who calls them all "dunderheads?" While the More...

ISBN-978-0-7636-2498-9
Copyright-2009
Elementary students will really enjoy reading about how a group of talented kids outsmarted their mean teacher in this title. I think this title would make a great read-a-loud and I would begin a discussion of the book by asking about the meaning of "dunderhead". I would also introduce the characters, Einstein, Junkyard, Wheels, Pencil, and Spider and have students guessing what unique talents they bring to Miss Breakbone's classroom. This idea could carry ove More...

When Miss Breakbone, cantankerous child-hating teacher extraordinaire, takes Junkyard's magnifying class and his mother's birthday present during class, she makes a series of mistakes. The worst of which is that she dares Junkyard not to think about getting his things back.

Now Einstein, the class problem solver, is organizing the rest of the kids in the class to pull off the ultimate heist--breaking into Miss Breakbone's house to retrieve the one-eyed cat in time for Junkyard to give it to his m More...

This felt like a picture book version of 'The Mysterious Benedict Society.' A crack team of children of varying talents united by common goal. Clever, clever children thwart the evil grownup. Perhaps there is an emerging sub genre...'Ocean's 11 junior' see also 'Swindle' by Gordon Korman.

It could just as easily belong to the classic sub genre of children's lit- the evil teacher...see also 'Matilda' by Roald Dahl, 'Miss Nelson is Missing' by Allard, 'A Little Princess' by Frances Hodgson Burnett. More...

Miss Breakbone calls her poor, unfortunate students dunderheads. And when she confiscates Junkyard's birthday present for his mom, the kids unite to get the one-eared cat statue back. Together, they use their strengths to make a plan and break into Miss Breakbone's house.

I loved, loved, loved the kids' talents and names. This is a wonderful picture book for upper elementary students. The language, story, and characters are a step up from the picture books that kids experience in lower grades an More...

Entertaining light and clever read about a nasty piece of work of a teacher and some very clever and resourceful students who definitely give her a well-deserved comeuppance. Although this is cataloged in the fiction (as in longer fiction) area of the children's area of our library, it is really a picture book for older readers. Aah - do I wish there could be a separate area for just that. Those special books that are far too long and conceptually above the little ones have so much to offer as r More...

A deliciously evil teacher (Miss Breakbone) who calls her students "dunderheads" is in for a surprise when she confiscates ("Confiscating was her specialty") Theordore's prized one-eared cat figurine, the figurine intended as a gift for his mother. The Dunderheads, each with their own special talent, make a plan to reclaim the cat. Watch as Spitball, Spider, Clips and the other Dunderheads triumph over a most terrible teacher! The illustrations are Tim Burton-esque and in full color. Fun, quick More...

I loved this! It is very funny and clever. The kids subverting their horrid teacher is very Dahl-esque but this is still fresh and the illustrations really bring it to a higher level. I especially like how the main character sees the strengths and potential of each of his classmates and uses that knowledge to make a superb plan.

Even though this isn't a chapter book I put it in my "brilliant beginng chapter books" category because I would give this to that kid who is at that reading level.

Hovering somewhere inbetween a picture book and a chapter book, something tells me this book would make an excellent read-aloud. The only problem there would be that if you read it to a larger group, they couldn't fully admire the illustrations, which are half the fun. Still, it's funny and the topic - an evil teacher who must be taken down - is perfect for elementary school kids. I read through it quickly when my order arrived, and I'm looking forward to the chance to admire it again.

After a reluctant reader recommended this book the other day in my classroom, I had to pick it up! This short DCF story is a perfect way to hook students into the DCF challenge that we run at our school. The story is about a mean, mean teacher who collects items from students and sells them for profit. She gives herself a gold star whenever she can make a student cry. The Dunderheads come to the rescue when their friend is challenged by Mrs. Breakbone.

This division II book makes for a great booktalk. It is somewhat reminiscent of Matilda, in that Paul Fleischman starts his book with a rant from frightening teacher who gives herself a gold star when she makes a student cry. This challenge, to the “fiddling, twiddling, time-squandering, mind-wandering, doodling, dozing, don’t-knowing dunderheads" in the class, is only the first step on the way to getting the dunderheads set to get their revenge. Will they?

"Miss Breakbone hated kids. Every time she made a student cry, she gave herself a gold star."

A delightful story about a class of kids whose teacher does not value them for their talents, but sees them as (and calls them) a bunch of "Dunderheads". After a series of mistakes, on her part, ie: "Mistake Number 2: no eye for talent.", she goes too far and the Dunderheads rally together to show her what kind of stuff they're made of!

A unique story about how a class of elementary-school kids sets out to retrieve something taken by their overbearing (wicked) teacher. Each child brings his or her own talent to the project and they accomplish their goal only by using every one of the children. Great story about teamwork and valuing each other for what they can do that we can't. Somewhat reminiscent of Roald Dahl's Matilda.

Highly sophisticated and improbable picture book. A classroom of kids conspire against the nastiest teacher in the universe (she keeps an electric chair in the classroom!) and combines their unique skill sets of problem solving, bicycling, paper clip chain-making, hypnotism and spitting, respectively.

I found the cleverness to be a bit too trying and have trouble identifying the audience.

Well. There are reviews here from far better reviewers from me but I'm still at a loss. Would this not have been better without the stupid names? The illustrations were lacking for us also.
I was really surprised when I pulled the listing up and saw so many four and five star ratings and glowing reviews. ???
It seems sort of a silly ploy to get a book out and make some money IMO.

Roald Dahl or Lemony Snicket for the younger crowd? It also reminded me a bit of Gordon Korman's Swindle, except with illustrations. A group of youngsters stage a break-in to recover lost goods. Join Einstein, Junkyard, Wheels, Pencil, Spider, Spitball, Hollywood, Clips, Google-Eyes and Nails as they break in to their teacher's house to recover a stolen cat.

Efficient text and quirky illustrations perfectly come together in this kiddie-version of "Ocean's Eleven." The students of evil Miss Breakbone join forces after she crosses the line by taking a child's gift to his mother. Using their unique abilities, the kids raid the house in an effort to regain the gift. A real hoot that'd be great as a read-aloud or a bridge book.

This is a strange picture book/chapter book. It is quite short, and the story is full of one or two dimensional kids, the one who likes bikes, the one who shoots spit-balls, but for all that it is still quite amusing. Someone suggested this might be a contender for the Newbery, but I would be surprised and disappointed if it were so. Though it isn't a bad book, per se.