Miss Carlson

Biography

According to the narrator, she was fired after one semester for failing to teach lessons, instead having pupils make papier-mâché marionettes. She took some children for rides in her airplane without school or parental permission. The pupils believed she had been taken to jail, but the narrator does not establish that this happened.

Timeline

date not given
Bernard skips fourth grade
After skipping fourth grade, Bernard ended up in Miss Carlson's classroom.
Bernie's Chapter
The entire semester
A semester of marionette making
Miss Carlson had pupils make marionettes for a planned end-of-semester show. Bernard made a jointed farm boy from cigarette papers and library paste.
Bernie's Chapter
After one semester
Miss Carlson is fired and the puppets are confiscated
The narrator says Miss Carlson was fired for failing to teach lessons. She never returned, and the school confiscated the puppet materials. Bernard never recovered his marionette. The children's belief that she had been taken to jail is not confirmed.
Bernie's Chapter

Stories mentioning Miss

The Farm Boy Puppet That Never Came HomeAfter skipping fourth grade, Bernard entered Miss Carlson's classroom. The former nun devoted the semester to making papier-mâché marionettes for a planned show rather than teaching lessons, and took some pupils flying without permission. Bernard spent months crafting a carefully jointed farm boy puppet, with overalls and a red shirt made by his mother. Miss Carlson was fired and never returned; the children imagined she had been taken to jail. The school confiscated the puppets, and Bernard remained angry that his was never returned.

Referenced in

Bernie's Chapter — EX-NUNS AND PUPPETS

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