Hank Zipzer’s report is due, and he’s dreading it. Then he gets his grades and they are his worst nightmare: three Ds. His parents are not going to be happy. Hank thinks he has found a way to make those grades disappear … until his clever plan backfires, big time!

 Whatever my expectations of a book co-authored by the Fonz from ‘Happy Days’, this blew me away. Mingling sharp humour and crazy antics with a sensitive exploration of dyslexia, it had me gripped from beginning to end. Told from the perspective of the wise-cracking fourth-grader,

 Hank’s story introduces us to his little sister Emily and her pet iguana (“like a scaly Santa Claus with a mutant beard”, p.7), his dreaded teacher (the appropriately named Ms. Adolf), and his loyal friends, Frankie and Ashley. As he seeks to avoid humiliation and then races to save his mother’s business from ruin, he learns lessons about the value of truth, real friendship and what it really means to be smart. Along the way, we gain a keen insight into his learning difficulties, clearly drawing on Winkler’s own struggles with dyslexia: “My brain was swimming in letters. They were all over the place but not making themselves into any words I knew.” (p. 24)

A fun, quick-witted, heart-warming, discussion-raising read, this is sure to grab the interest of readers, perhaps particularly boys, in KS2. It would also be well suited to reluctant readers. A must for every dyslexia-friendly classroom – I can’t wait to read the others in the series!

2009-06-28