My Weird School 19 – Dr. Carbles Is Losing His Marbles!

Dr. Carbles Is Losing His Marbles by Dan Gutman is a Thanksgiving comedy for 8 year olds in which the strictest head teacher ever takes over A.J.'s school.

What happens

It's the nineteenth My Weird School book. It starts with a Thanksgiving assembly and a live turkey called Gobbles, dressed as a Pilgrim in a little bonnet. Mr. Klutz promises he'll marry her if every class makes a good display.

Gobbles has other ideas. She bolts off the stage, sends the whole school screaming and knocks over Dr. Carbles from the Board of Education. And Mr. Klutz gets the sack!

So guess who the new head is? Dr. Carbles turns up in an army uniform with a whistle, a bullhorn and a whip. Recess is cancelled. Everyone has to wear a uniform. After school they march round and round the playground (in the rain, too).

Then A.J. gets called to the office. Dr. Carbles keeps asking if he can be Frank, and A.J. is more than happy to call him Frank. It's one of the funniest scenes in the book, and don't be surprised if "Okay, Frank" gets said at your dinner table for a week.

The gang decide they've got to do something. They track down Mr. Klutz at home and find out a few secrets about the two men's past. After that there are protest signs, a stolen fishing rod and a VERY big army tank.

A.J. tells it all to you himself, and he takes everything literally. When Dr. Carbles calls Mr. Klutz incompetent, A.J. hears something to do with nappies. He's always promising to tell you what happens next and then making you turn the page instead.

It's worth knowing that the opening assembly has two members of staff dressed up as American Indians, in feathers and headdresses, whooping and hollering. That's a dated joke and some families will want to talk about it. Dr. Carbles also drives his tank straight at the protesting children, and there's a dark little joke about the turkey's fate. It's all slapstick, but a very soft-hearted animal lover might not laugh at that last bit.

If your reader loves a story where the kids stick together against a grown-up who's gone way too far, this one is a treat.

A.J.'s school is American, so the head is the principal and playtime is recess.

What to read next

For more of the head everyone's missing, try Mr. Klutz Is Nuts. It opens with him skateboarding down the hill to school and crash-landing head first in a bush (which is very much his style).