When I Was Your Age

My world revolves around Jon Szieszka these days. We read his autobiography, Knucklehead, for class. The school I observed in had him come speak, and at the school where I work the third grade is writing essays about him and David Shannon.

Knucklehead is very similar to Roald Dahl's Boy in the nature of the stories, though the tone is much more informal. Scieszka, a self-purported panderer to reluctant readers, has chosen a comic book cover and writes about broken bones, urination, swearing, pagan babies, and more urination. Dahl is no stranger to the grotesque. Boy details dead mousecapades, canings, and the anesthetic-free removal of his tonsils and adenoids, but the text is denser and it reads much more like a memoir. Sciezka's tone is of your favorite uncle telling you a whopper- one per chapter.

After hearing him speak, I have no doubt Scieszka is a favorite uncle who tells whoppers. His demeanor is easy, his smile is constant, and his ability to connect with the children unparalleled. No question was too silly or too redundant. No suggestion too wild: You think I should have the Space Heads (his current project in the works) use orange juice as a mind control potion and try to take over the world? Well maybe you're right! Yet the presentation was subtly full of inspiration for future writers and illustrators. Scieszka showed the students how Shannon's illustrations in Robot Zot use perspective to make Zot seem larger than life. He explained that Shannon added things to the story solely through illustration that he had not originally included, like Zot's dog. He talked about the terror that all authors must face- the dreaded...blank page (he brandishes a blank legal pad as if it were a weapon.) And he showed students his writing process from illegible notes to published books.

Scieszka's great accomplishment with Knucklehead is writing a book that is grown up, amusing, and cool, while remaining manageable for struggling readers. The chapters are short and to the point. The vocabulary is straight forward and the themes are familiar to kids- siblings, school, and messing around. This is a book a struggling reader can carry around while enjoying the success of actually reading it.

Besides the Time Warp Trio books, Scieszka has written illustrated books. Big, glossy books with bold illustrations by Shannon or Lane Smith. The younger readers of his books can easily have Knucklehead read aloud to them. The stronger readers among them can read it by themselves. But Knucklehead is more than that because those of us who are older and love his wacky spoofs (by the way the idea for Stinky Cheeseman came to Scieszka when his daughter, then about five, insisted that he read her the Gingerbread Man over and over and over and over until he came up with an alternative) can appreciate this insight into his wonderfully twisted mind.

A child's rendition of Zot, hung to welcome Scieszka to the school.