Fleischman, Paul. The Dunderheads. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2009.
Summary:
This story recounts a group of children who are unfortunate enought to have been placed in Miss Breakbone's class. She is an awful teacher who has an electric chair in her classroom, gives herself a gold star when she makes a child cry, takes personal belongings from the students, and constantly berates them by calling them dunderheads. Miss Breakbone goes to far when she takes a one eared cat away from Theodore, better known as Junkyard. The rest of the students in the class, led by a student nicknamed Einstein, all pull each of their individual unique talents in order to steal the one eared cat out of Miss Breakbone's house during a party.
My Impressions:
While some people might think that Fleischman goes to far in his presentation of the character of Miss Breakbone, such as including the presence of an electric chair, I believe that the book captures the exagerrated way in which young students might view a teacher of whom they are think is mean. The book's illustrations serve to capture the imagination of the child, and highlights the main points of Fleischman's story. The illustrations do a good job of reflecting the tone of each section of the book, from the looks on the characters' faces to the colors used. The subtle, but overall message that each person is unique and has their own speacial talent that can in some way contribute to the greater good, is very excellently portrayed through the clever plot line, and the well done illustrations that serve to provide a visual representation of the story.
Suggestions for the use of this book:
This book can be used by a parent who is trying to teach their child to make the most of their natural abilities and talents, in order to help others. This could also be used by teachers or school librarians to aid in a lesson on helping others.
Reviews:
Review of The Dunderheads, by Paul Fleischman. Publisher's Weekly, May 18, 2009.
The fiendish Miss Breakbone-a teacher with her own electric chair and a subscription to Guard Dog Lovers Monthly-is no match for her students, once they put their heads together. They have no choice: Miss Breakbone has insulted them ("doodling, dozing, don't-knowing dunderheads!"), confiscated a cat figurine that Junkyard was saving for his mother's birthday and then dared them to retaliate. Einstein, the genius hero, marshals his classmates' skills (hypnotism, spitballs, perfect knowledge of movie plots) and pulls off the perfect break-in. Action and zaniness animate every page of this picture book/early reader hybrid, but the story's real virtue is Newbery winner Fleischman's (Joyful Noise) appreciation for kids whose loser exteriors hide unexpected talent (each gets an apt nickname). "I nodded to Clips," Einstein says about the kid whose creations help them enter Miss Breakbone's lair. "His reading scores were low. His math scores were worse. But if they tested for paper-clip chains..." Roberts's (The Dumpster Diver) drawings, with their delicate lines and sly cultural references (Miss Breakbone looks like a cold war-era prison guard), convey just the right note of dastardly charm. Schoolchildren will adore this story of pupil revenge.
Lukehart, Wendy. Review of The Dunderheads, by Paul Fleischman. School Library Journal, June 1, 2009.
As long as children must endure the whims of tyrannical teachers, there will be an appreciative audience for a book such as this. Miss Breakbone suffers no fools; she refers to her class as "fiddling, twiddling, time-squandering...dunderheads!" Her militaristic form is capped by severe red hair and a menacing mouth; the latter is wide open and shrieking insults on the first page. Her alligator purse, warden-style key ring, and electric chair offer further inklings into her psyche. She makes Viola Swamp look like Glenda the Good Witch. When she confiscates Junkyard's latest find and makes him cry, the class reaches the tipping point. They devise elaborate plans to retrieve the treasure from the teacher's fortresslike home. The talents of the children in this diverse group are foreshadowed by their nicknames, e.g., Spider, Spitball, Google-Eyes, and Hollywood. Together, the Dunderheads are a formidable force, and Roberts's quirky watercolor and ink interpretations of Fleischman's deadpan humor and impeccable pacing produce hilarious results. The compositions are a pleasing mixture of busy scenes, with funny or important details rendered via judicious touches of color, gray washes, and black line work and ample white space. The spreads are sometimes defined by "panels," whose straight and curved lines form unexpected shapes and add another element of excitement to the dynamic diagonals and extreme perspectives. This book will raise an adult eyebrow or two, but young readers will relish each solution in this satisfying celebration of multiple intelligences, teamwork, and kid power.
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