Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka

My kids and I love the True Story of the Three Little Pigs. I bought this book, Knucklehead, because the author is really clever and funny. My 8 year old and I laugh out loud reading it. I would highly recommend this book!

Reviewed by Simon Smith (age 9) for Reader Views (10/08) The "Knucklehead" was very naughty with some crazy tricks. The front of the book makes it look like a comic book but it's really not. It's a chapter book with short chapters and some photos. Jon is a naughty kid who is forever going outdoors or playing tricks on his four younger brothers. This is the story of the author and the funny things that happened when he was a kid. Once in Sunday School Jon had to write down all of the curse words he knew and show them to the teacher for an assignment. Jon said that the universe stopped when the teacher read the list. She gave him the evil eye, but fortunately, since it was an assignment to write down the curse words, he got away with it. Another time, when Jon saw this really cool ad that said one-thousand toy soldiers in a footlocker, he bought them all immediately. When they came, he saw that all of the soldiers were no thicker than a dime. He angrily shoved all of the useless soldiers back in the chest. Then the youngest brother Jeff came along and when he asked what it was, Jon showed him the ad and told him that this was one-thousand soldiers in a footlocker and that he could buy it from him for one-dollar and fifty-cents. His writing is pretty good as writing goes and from the way this is read, it sounds like this information might have been taken from his journal. This book is for people who like sneaky, naughty stories and is probably best for kids, ages seven and up. If you liked "Skinky Cheeseman" and "Other Fairly Stupid Tales," also written by this author, then you'll really like this book, "Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka."

This is an awesome funny book. My husband was raised in Michigan and has a sweet routine of telling my two boys ages 6 and 11 stories of his childhood at bedtime every night. He found this book and bought it for our 11 year old. He loves it. Last night he read it outloud to me and we both laughed so hard my faced hurt! Awesome book.

As the mother of four boys (and a child of the 70s), I adore what Jon Sciezska has done for male-accessible literature. My sons are reading again and again the adventures of Jon and his brothers who "don't know" how mischief happens. Perhaps my favorite part of this book is his description of how the term "knucklehead" changed from being a deragatory term to a phrase of endearment. My boys love the funny stories of what happens when you get a pack of boys together. We also love the book he edited, Guys Write for Guys Read, full of great authors that boys/men and the women who love them like to read.