The Dunderheads

I have learned a lot of things in the past five years of teaching fifth grade but one thing I seem to relearn each and every year is that kids are smarter than adults sometimes give them credit for. Much smarter. Paul Fleischman, author of THE DUNDERHEADS, certainly understands this. Miss Breakbone, "the Dunderheads'" teacher, like many adults, does not. Junkyard was so happy when he found the one-eared porcelin cat in the dumpster. It would make the perfect Christmas gift for his cat-loving mom. That is until Miss Breakbone confiscated it from him in class for no apparent reason. Miss Breakbone hates kids, especially this particular class of "fiddling, twiddling, time-squandering, mind-wandering, doodling, dozing, don't-knowing dunderheads." However by taking this particular cat statue from Junkyard, Miss Breakbone has bitten off more than she can chew. Junkyard enlists the help of Einstein, Wheels, Pencil, Spider, Hollywood, and the rest of his classmates to join together and get back what's rightfully his. There's a lot said in education today about recognizing the special "uniqueness" in every child and building on their strengths (perhaps TOO much). THE DUNDERHEADS definitely speaks to this idea! Each Dunderhead, while apparently not being the "ideal" student, possesses a truly unique talent unacknowledged by Miss Breakbone, and each is equally crucial to the success of the mission. Einstein is the brains of the operation but each Dunderhead gets their individual moment to shine in this book and I loved how Fleischman cleverly chose to reveal each character and their role. Some are introduced right away, like Wheels, Pencil, and Spider ("The best way to find him is to look up") and some we aren't introduced to until the middle or end of the book (like Spits, Google-Eyes, and Nails). But each serves a purpose and it's fun to see how the mission to retrieve the confiscated one-eared cat plays out. Think OCEANS 11 meets MISS NELSON IS MISSING! For a 55 page picture book, THE DUNDERHEADS sure packs in plenty of style and flair; from the plotting, to the text, to the quirky illustrations. I love how Fleischman sets the stage through a series of "mistakes" ("That was her first mistake: the insult") familiarizing us with Miss Breakbone and her class. By the time we get to the 4th and final mistake, we know some fun is about to be had ("Mistake #4: the dare") because everyone knows that when teachers say WALK, students want to RUN. The text in this picture book is imaginative and impressive. "Spider went up the drainpipe like malt up a straw" - is just awesome! And the illustrations of Miss Breakbone were a blast! I loved the way she towered over the kids and I laughed at the final illustration of her standing in her home. Great stuff! There is the slight problem of these students actually breaking the law and having it glorified by Fleischman in a way (don't know how parents would feel about that). But I do think it's larger themes win out in t

Think Oceans 11 for schoolkids. It's a picture book, but challenging enough for early chapter book readers. It's a caper and an adventure story and a non-thuddingly-obvious self-esteem-y parable, and it's hilarious and the illustrations are hip and delicious. I cannot express the awesomeness.

Thought this book was great!!! A great read aloud for the first day of school.

The WHOLE class gets involved in this caper - - trying to wrest a broken cat statue (with attributes that only Miss Breakbone has noticed, in the beginning anyway) from the spooky and well-secured haunted house belonging to Miss Breakbone -- a feared and hated teacher who towers menacingly over all the kids in her class. This is a delightful little read, for kids in the 5th - 9th grade, that shows how teamwork and ingenuity can make the day. The illustrations are delightful and very Gorey-esque (but in this case, the humans actually do talk!!). Every kid tells a story -- just by having and demonstrating her or his unique and bizzarre talents. The kids risk everything to bravely get back that little cat statue -- and in the process of doing so, confront their own fears and triumph in their endeavor. You can bet that the students' newfound solidarity will will give mean old Miss Breakbone food for thought the next time she tries anything remotely nefarious in the future.