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Readers > Talk it Up! > Discussion guides > 2011 Oregon Reader's Choice Award Nominees > Knucklehead

Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka

Discussion guide written by Carol Silva.

Summary

Jon Scieszka shares hilarious – and mostly true - short stories and photographs of his early years growing up as the second of six brothers in a lively Midwestern family.

Booktalk

There were six little boys in that house. Yep, author Jon Scieszka had five brothers and no sisters. Those boys didn't always get along, but in the tough times they really stuck together. One weekend the family went on a road trip – everybody into the car! It was Mom and Dad up front, all six boys in back, and the family cat there with them. Dad drove and drove for hours and hours and then they stopped for lunch at a little restaurant along the highway. This restaurant had a candy counter and after lunch the boys all bought candy. Once they got back into the car, what do you think they did? (Ate all the candy.)

While they were eating the family cat somehow got a hold of one of the candies, a nut roll with gooey caramel in the middle. Have you ever heard that people foods aren't very good for pets? That cat ate part of the nut roll and then started to – ack!- cough and – ack! – gag – and – ack! - eventually threw up that candy all over the lap of the littlest brother. Now this little boy had just eaten a big lunch and a lot of candy. He looked at that mess of cat sick on his lap and – urp! – he got sick. The brother next to him looked down and saw that and – urp! – he got sick too. One-by-one the brothers threw up, and by now their Dad is frantically trying to get the car off the freeway so that they can get out of that stinky car! One throws up – they all throw up: the brothers really stuck together then. Whether it's fighting a war with dirt clods or crossing swords in the bathroom, you'll want to read all the other stories about growing up Scieszka in Knucklehead.

106 pages, 4th grade and up

Discussion questions

Warning! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

  1. Two of the brothers broke a piece of furniture, and when Mom asked, "What happened to the couch?" the boys blamed it on one another. When have you been blamed for something you did not do?
  2. The Scieszka house was small and none of the boys had a room of his own. Jon and his older brother Jim shared a bedroom in the basement. They got along pretty well. In fact, none of the brothers ever switched roommates. If you share a bedroom: what are the good parts and bad parts about sharing? Would you rather have your own bedroom? If you currently have your own room: would you ever want to share? What are the good and bad points to having your own room?
  3. Jon's older brother Jim was smart and liked to talk. One time he tricked Jon into paying money to wear his own shirt. What kinds of tricks have you played on your brothers or sisters? Has anyone ever played a trick like that on you?
  4. Jon's family had a job chart with chores for each of the boys to do. How are the chores shared out in your family? Which chore is something you really, really don't like to do? Which ones are sort of okay, or maybe a little fun?
  5. Jim and Jon often babysat their younger brothers. Sometimes they let them buy extra cookies or pay to stay up late, and if they misbehaved Jon pretended to call the "Bad Boys Home." What kinds of funny things have happened to you when you were babysitting or being babysat?
  6. When the boys were growing up Jon's parents made sure there were books around the house, including Go, Dog, Go by P. D. Eastman. Jon described how fun books like that made him want to read more. List the books that first made you want to read more.
  7. Jon saved up his allowance and ordered one hundred toy soldiers he saw advertised in the back of a comic book. When the package arrived he was greatly disappointed to find that the soldiers were flimsy and useless. When have you been fooled by advertisements into thinking something is a lot better than it turns out to be?
  8. It doesn't take long for children to get too big for their clothes. In Jon's family the outgrown clothes and toys were handed down from one brother to the next. What kind of hand-me-downs do you have in your family?
  9. Brian was the only one of the six brothers who did not have a nickname. Who has a nickname in your family?
  10. Many of the Scieszka boys took music lessons and Jon reluctantly studied piano. He invented excuses in order to avoid the lessons. What are some ways you've tried to avoid lessons, classes, a family outing, or a job you don't really want to do?
  11. During the summer Jon was inspired by books like My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George and The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss, where kids have to use their wits to survive in the wilderness, befriend animals, and have amazing adventures. He went into the woods and pretended he was like the characters from those books, living in a hollow tree and searching the skies for a hawk to tame. Which books have inspired you to dream about living a life completely different from your own?
  12. In tenth grade Jon left the family home to attend boarding school in another state. This made a huge change in his day-to-day life: living away from family, following strict school rules, and marching everywhere. What are some challenges you have faced that have changed how you live?

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Activities

It is not recommended that eager readers attempt any of the dangerous and foolhardy activities described in this book. It is both inadvisable and imprudent to copy the Scieszka brothers' regrettable endeavors, including:

Snacks