Try free for 30 days
-
Knucklehead
- Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka
- Narrated by: Jon Scieszka
- Length: 1 hr and 54 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
Guys Read: Funny Business
- By: Jon Scieszka, Adam Rex, Christopher Curtis, and others
- Narrated by: Michael Boatman, Kate DiCamillo, John Keating, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Funny Business is based around the theme of - what else? - humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and the Guys Read Library, you already know what you’re in store for: 10 hilarious stories from some of the funniest writers around. Before you’re through, you’ll meet a teenage mummy; a kid desperate to take a dip in the world’s largest pool of chocolate milk; a homicidal turkey; parents who hand over their son’s room to a biker; and more.
-
The Parker Inheritance
- By: Varian Johnson
- Narrated by: Cherise Boothe
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The letter waits in a book, in a box, in an attic, in an old house in Lambert, South Carolina. It's waiting for Candice Miller. When Candice finds the letter, she isn't sure she should read it. It's addressed to her grandmother, after all, who left Lambert in a cloud of shame. But the letter describes a young woman named Siobhan Washington. An injustice that happened decades ago. A mystery enfolding the letter-writer. And the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle. Grandma tried and failed. But now Candice has another chance.
-
The Unforgettable Logan Foster #1
- By: Shawn Peters
- Narrated by: Matt Braver
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Logan Foster has pretty much given up on the idea of ever being adopted. It could have something to with his awkward manner, his photographic memory, or his affection for reciting curious facts, but whatever the cause, Logan and his “PP’s” (prospective parents) have never clicked. Then everything changes when Gil and Margie arrive. Although they aren’t exactly perfect themselves—Gil has the punniest sense of humor and Margie’s cooking would have anyone running for the hills—they genuinely seem to care.
-
Tales from the Odyssey
- Volume 1
- By: Mary Pope Osborne
- Narrated by: James Simmons
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Pope Osborne retells thrilling stories from Homer's Odyssey, one of the greatest epics of all time.
-
History Smashers: The Mayflower
- History Smashers
- By: Kate Messner
- Narrated by: Annette Amelia Oliveira
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1620, the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock and made friends with Wampanoag people who gave them corn. RIGHT? WRONG! It was months before the Pilgrims met any Wampanoag people, and nobody gave anybody corn that day.
-
El Deafo
- By: Cece Bell
- Narrated by: Sarah Tubert, Lexi Finigan, Jennifer Aquino, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Starting at a new school is scary, especially with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece’s class was deaf. Here, she’s different. She’s sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.
-
Guys Read: Funny Business
- By: Jon Scieszka, Adam Rex, Christopher Curtis, and others
- Narrated by: Michael Boatman, Kate DiCamillo, John Keating, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Funny Business is based around the theme of - what else? - humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and the Guys Read Library, you already know what you’re in store for: 10 hilarious stories from some of the funniest writers around. Before you’re through, you’ll meet a teenage mummy; a kid desperate to take a dip in the world’s largest pool of chocolate milk; a homicidal turkey; parents who hand over their son’s room to a biker; and more.
-
The Parker Inheritance
- By: Varian Johnson
- Narrated by: Cherise Boothe
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The letter waits in a book, in a box, in an attic, in an old house in Lambert, South Carolina. It's waiting for Candice Miller. When Candice finds the letter, she isn't sure she should read it. It's addressed to her grandmother, after all, who left Lambert in a cloud of shame. But the letter describes a young woman named Siobhan Washington. An injustice that happened decades ago. A mystery enfolding the letter-writer. And the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle. Grandma tried and failed. But now Candice has another chance.
-
The Unforgettable Logan Foster #1
- By: Shawn Peters
- Narrated by: Matt Braver
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Logan Foster has pretty much given up on the idea of ever being adopted. It could have something to with his awkward manner, his photographic memory, or his affection for reciting curious facts, but whatever the cause, Logan and his “PP’s” (prospective parents) have never clicked. Then everything changes when Gil and Margie arrive. Although they aren’t exactly perfect themselves—Gil has the punniest sense of humor and Margie’s cooking would have anyone running for the hills—they genuinely seem to care.
-
Tales from the Odyssey
- Volume 1
- By: Mary Pope Osborne
- Narrated by: James Simmons
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Pope Osborne retells thrilling stories from Homer's Odyssey, one of the greatest epics of all time.
-
History Smashers: The Mayflower
- History Smashers
- By: Kate Messner
- Narrated by: Annette Amelia Oliveira
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1620, the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock and made friends with Wampanoag people who gave them corn. RIGHT? WRONG! It was months before the Pilgrims met any Wampanoag people, and nobody gave anybody corn that day.
-
El Deafo
- By: Cece Bell
- Narrated by: Sarah Tubert, Lexi Finigan, Jennifer Aquino, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Starting at a new school is scary, especially with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece’s class was deaf. Here, she’s different. She’s sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.
-
Starfish
- By: Lisa Fipps
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth-birthday party, she's been bullied about her weight. To cope, she tries to live by the Fat Girl Rules - like "no making waves", "avoid eating in public", and "don't move so fast that your body jiggles". And she's found her safe space - her swimming pool - where she feels weightless in a fat-obsessed world. In the water, she can stretch herself out like a starfish and take up all the room she wants. It's also where she can get away from her mom, who thinks criticizing Ellie's weight will motivate her to diet.
-
-
Beautiful
- By Tabitha Bird on 14-07-2021
-
Ways to Make Sunshine
- Ryan Hart, Book 1
- By: Renée Watson
- Narrated by: Sisi Aisha Johnson
- Length: 2 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award winner Renée Watson comes the first book in a young middle grade series about Ryan Hart, a girl who is pure spirit, kindness and sunshine. Ryan Hart has a lot on her mind – school, self-image and especially family. Her dad finally has a new job, but money is tight. That means some changes, like selling their second car and moving into a new (old) house. But Ryan is a girl who knows how to make sunshine out of setbacks.
-
Maizy Chen's Last Chance
- By: Lisa Yee
- Narrated by: Yu-Li Alice Shen
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota . . . until now. Her mom’s plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance and at the Golden Palace—the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations—she makes some discoveries. But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has.
-
A Whale of the Wild
- By: Rosanne Parry
- Narrated by: Hope Newhouse
- Length: 4 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Vega and her family, salmon is life. And Vega is learning to be a salmon finder, preparing for the day when she will be her family’s matriarch. But then she and her brother Deneb are separated from their pod when a devastating earthquake and tsunami render the seascape unrecognizable. Vega must use every skill she has to lead her brother back to their family. The young orcas face a shark attack, hunger, the deep ocean, and polluted waters on their journey. Will Vega become the leader she’s destined to be?
-
Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl
- By: Julie Kagawa
- Narrated by: Stephen Fu
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shinji Takahashi is just an ordinary kid. An ordinary homeschooled smart-alecky orphan kid being raised by his globe-trotting aunt, Yui. But when a magical guardian decides to use him as a conduit to awaken its power, Shinji's life takes a turn for the anything-but-ordinary. Captured by the menacing Hightower Corporation, which is bent on using the guardian's magic for its own nefarious purposes, Shinji must team up with a brilliant young tech whiz named Lucy and her robot mouse, Tinker, in order to escape.
-
-
Great book!
- By Anonymous User on 12-06-2023
-
Save Me a Seat
- By: Sarah Weeks, Gita Varadarajan
- Narrated by: Josh Hurley, Vikas Adam
- Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two boys - one white, one Indian American - gain strength from each other from afar as they struggle to navigate middle school, family, and friendships.
-
Frindle
- By: Andrew Clements
- Narrated by: Keith Nobbs
- Length: 1 hr and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He really just likes to liven things up at school -- and he's always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he's got the inspiration for his best plan ever: the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle. Soon the school is in an uproar, and Nick has become a local hero.
-
My Life in Dog Years
- By: Gary Paulsen
- Narrated by: Gary Paulsen
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gary Paulsen has owned dozens of unforgettable and amazing dogs. In each chapter he tells of one special dog, among them Cookie, the sled dog who saved his life; Snowball, the puppy he owned as a boy in the Philippines; Ike, his mysterious hunting companion; Dirk, the grim protector; and his true friend Josh, a brilliant border collie.
-
Gregor the Overlander
- Underland Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Suzanne Collins
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, and cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor's arrival is no accident. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland's uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it, until he realizes it's the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance.
-
-
Wonderful story. Terrible Narration
- By Kindle Customer on 14-02-2020
-
Squids Will Be Squids
- By: Jon Scieszka
- Narrated by: Mike Ferrerir
- Length: 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sure we'd all love to be able to go around telling stories about all the weird, scary, and just-plain-annoying people that we know. But the truth is, no one likes a gossip. Here, the irrepressible Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith have found a way around that problem - they just make like Aesop and change all the people to animals or food, add a moral to each story, and call the stories fables!
-
Parachute Kids
- By: Betty Tang
- Narrated by: Jenny Chen, Ell, Kenton Chen, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Feng-Li can’t wait to discover America with her family! But after an action-packed vacation, her parents deliver shocking news: They are returning to Taiwan and leaving Feng-Li and her older siblings in California on their own. Suddenly, the three kids must fend for themselves in a strange new world—and get along. Starting a new school, learning a new language, and trying to make new friends while managing a household is hard enough, but Bro and Sis’s constant bickering makes everything worse.
-
The Knights of the Kitchen Table
- Time Warp Trio, Book 1
- By: Jon Scieszka
- Narrated by: Joshua Swanson
- Length: 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did Joe, Fred, and Sam end up in King Arthur's court? It all started with The Book, a present from Joe's magician uncle. One minute they were looking at pictures of knights in The Book - and the next minute they are knights, battling fire-breathing dragons and gross-smelling giants! Can the Time Warp Trio escape death and destruction - and make it back to the twentieth century in time for lunch?
Publisher's Summary
How did Jon Scieszka get so funny, anyway? Growing up as one of six brothers was a good start, but that was just the beginning. Throw in Catholic school, lots of comic books, lazy summers at the lake with time to kill, babysitting misadventures, TV shows, jokes told at family dinner, and the result is Knucklehead. Part memoir, part scrapbook, this hilarious trip down memory lane provides a unique glimpse into the formation of a creative mind and a free spirit.
Critic Reviews
"Just try to keep kids away from this collection. Inspired book design makes the volume look like an old-school comic. The front cover features an elementary-aged Scieszka popping up out of a military tank, surrounded by explosions and bombers, while the back advertises a 'Treasure Chest of Fun' and displays chapter titles and excerpts along with nostalgic graphics. Scieszka answers the oft-asked question, 'Where do you get your ideas?' with a slew of childhood anecdotes and his family's escapades that have given him plenty of material from which to draw. Born in 1954, the second of six brothers, he writes about Catholic and military schools, buying gifts, chores, and hand-me-downs-all familiar experiences related with a specific Scieszka twist. His mother, a nurse, insisted that her sons use proper terms for anatomy ('rectum' rather than 'butt') and bodily functions ('urinate' rather than 'pee'), making way for several laugh-out-loud moments. Some stories are just amiably funny, such as wearing recycled Halloween costumes, while others help readers understand more about how the author developed his unique sense of humor. Although it includes the car trip story from Guys Write for Guys Read (Viking, 2005), Knucklehead is aimed at a younger audience. Family photographs and other period illustrations appear throughout. Entertaining and fast-moving, silly and sweet, this homage to family life is not to be missed." (School Library Journal)
"Offering an answer to the perennial query about where his ideas come from, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature looks back to his early 1960s youth. Fans will not be surprised to learn that, except for his mother (a nurse, fortunately) he grew up in an all-male household: father, five brothers and 'even our dogs and cats and fish.' The resulting memories include group pukes in the back seat, slipping toy soldiers into the Christmas creche, playing neighborhood games like 'Slaughterball' and idyllic summer expeditions into the woods around his grandparents' cottage - not to mention the pleasures of random dips into the household children's encyclopedia and spurning 'those weirdos Dick and Jane"' to 'find out more about real things like dogs in cars and cats in hats.' Illustrated with truly dorky school-yearbook photos and family snapshots, this account of a thoroughly normal childhood doesn't match Gary Paulsen's memoirs for hilarity or Tomie DePaola's for cultural insight, but it will draw chuckles of amusement from middle-graders (particularly less eager readers) and of recognition from their parents and grandparents." (Kirkus Reviews)