The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Funny, fascinating, and exquisite historical tale.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Richard Peck is a master at packing even his lightest books with deeper meaning and thought-provoking ideas. Here they include the nature and purpose of education, transformation wrought by technology, the complexity of family relationships, the ways people judge and are judged, and, at the end, the ways in which "the child is father of the man."

  • Not applicable.
  • A fistfight between two teens, and a fairly graphic description of hog-butchering.
  • A reference to growing breasts.

What's the story?

"If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it." So thinks Russell Culver, when his "teacher, Miss Myrt Arbuckle, hauled off and died." With no teacher in his one-room schoolhouse, Russell thinks he's home free -- until his big sister, Tansy, takes the job. Unlike Miss Arbuckle, Tansy isn't hard of hearing or arthritic -- she can still whup plenty hard.

Hardheaded, no-nonsense, and determined to call her students to the "trough of knowledge," teacher Tansy is Russell's worst nightmare, and he aims to head out for harvest in the Dakotas. Even accidentally setting fire to the boy's privy on the first day of school doesn't slow her down, nor does a series of pranks and mishaps that includes an exploding stove and a snake in her desk. But both Tansy and his father are smarter and wiser than Russell knows, and they have some definite ideas about his future.


Is it any good?

 

THE TEACHER'S FUNERAL has all the elements we've come to expect from Richard Peck: wicked wit conveyed in crackling, razor-sharp prose; a setting in a time and place unfamiliar to most readers; a depth, complexity, and compassion rare in comic novels; wise elders; vivid characters who are determined individualists; and subtle underlying messages that make his books terrific for discussion groups.

Almost uniquely among comic novelists for children, Peck appeals to the head and the heart, as well as the funny bone, all without pandering to his readers' baser instincts. Peck makes his readers laugh out loud while watching children solve their own problems, but he does it in exquisite prose, filled with fascinating period detail, and without the usual writer's tricks of getting rid of the adults or making them useless. Now there's a writer's trick more authors need to learn.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about education. Why is Russell so eager to pursue physically demanding work instead of an education?


This review was written by Matt Berman
Teen, 17 years old
November 17, 2008
 
it was amazingly HORRIBLE!
this book was one of the worst books i have ever read in my entire life. I have no idea why they call it a comedy because it was not funny whatsoever i din't even understand the storyline because it was so dumb... it had alot of bad grammar too wich made it really really hard to read. I dont reccomend this book to annyone because it was so dumb and borning.

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
i hated it
i hated it. it used country language that i did not understand.

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Parent
September 27, 2011
 
BEST BEST BEST. TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH.
Well for starters, I had to read this for school. I grew up in Alabama (heart of Dixie), live in Pell City now and I absouletly love this book. Many people dislike it because of 2 things. (1. They are city people who can't relate to this book because it's written for the country people who know a thing or two true about the country. (2. With today's society in the country, it's almost all "CITY"now. I think this book displays humor and heart felt words in 1 little book. I can relate to Russel because I did dearly dread school till my older days. Not only did it tell about the simple tale of a country family but it also did it with the old truth. If the wife dies, the father usally asks the sister to marry if not already married. Lloyd, or the other other usually act different and usually more different. Floyd, the suspected idiot, blows their minds with an amazing talent in art. Tansy is not all bad as she seems. Glenn makes the mighty name of Tarbox shine with his talents. Aunt Maud makes your mind shine when revealed to be the Sweet Singer of the town, and your mind can't take anymore and blows up when you find that Little Briches marries Russel near the end. I really recomend this book if you have the money and time.

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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 

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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
 
this was a horrible book
I advise anyone who was planning on reading this book that is not a good book it bored me to death! I only read it because I had too! This would be a good book for you if you are looking for a book with a lot of dry humor. I strongly advise you not to read this book!

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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 
It was very good.
The Teachers Funeral The Teacher’s Funeral is a very good book! I liked it becaus it is funny and it tells a good story. Richard Peck tells his stories very well. They are easy to read and fun to read. I think it is great book for my age group.

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Adult
September 11, 2011
 
Family Fun Reading
My little brother who is 13 years old had to read this book for school. At first, he did not like it, but once my mother and I started reading it, he really became interested in the story line. The humor can sometimes be overlooked if you are speeding through the book which I think is why my brother didn't like it originally, but we ended up reading the whole book in a day. The three of us sat around and read aloud by taking turns. We laughed and learned new words. Its set in a time that agriculture was prominent I suppose, but there was an emphasis on the importance of education and not allowing others to decide for you whether or not you should like learning and do certain things. The author did a wonderful job of making you feel as if you were there with the characters. When Tansy would get after her brothers, you were apprehensive for them. When Aunt Fanny fell into the ditch, you were there trying not to laugh and help them haul up the big woman. When Tansy was being tested for her teacher's certificate and the children were questioned on what they were learned, you were worried with the characters and rooting for them to do well. When Russell and Glenn burned their eyebrows off, you could see their ashen faces and the dread that poured over them when they realized what they had done to the school room. The last chapter is what really tied the whole book together, and it was a great ending! It is a great family read! You can't but help identify people in your family with the characters in the book. My brother kept on saying when Tansy would do certain things, "That is you sis!" It was an enjoyable day of reading.

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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
 
WORST BOOK EVER!!!!
WORST BOOK I EVER READ!! WE WERE REQUIRED TO READ IT AT SCHOOL AND 23 OUT OF 24 KIDS HATED IT!! INCLUDING ME! DO NOT READ! WARNING: DO NOT READ

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Teen, 18 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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This review was written by Matt Berman
Author:Richard Peck
Book type:Fiction
Genre:Humor
Publisher:Dial Books
Publication date:October 20, 2004
Number of pages:190
Hardcover price:$16.99
Publisher's recommended age(s):10 - 14

This review was written by Matt Berman
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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