Junie B. Jones

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Junie B. Jones is a fictional character in an eponymous series by Barbara Park and illustrated by Denise Brunkus.

Contents

[edit] Character

Junie B. Jones, or "Junie B." as she called for short, is a five-year-old American girl. She hates shopping, except when the shopping is done in a supermarket. Junie B. loves ice cream, and her mother made it a rule for Junie not to yell at her for ice cream while at the supermarket.

Junie B., a first grade student, is very inquisitive, as she likes to ask her teacher (to whom she refers only as "Mr. Scary", who doesn't even scare her hardly) a lot of questions about every school subject. She fears challenges at times but mostly meets them successfully.

Junie B.'s best friends are Lucille, an upper-class girl who is accustomed to being pampered by her grandmother, and Grace (to whom Junie B. refers as "'that' Grace"), an athletic, African-American girl. The person she dislikes the most is "that meanie Jim," the class bully, whom she befriends on Valentine's Day when she is in kindergarden.

[edit] Literary significance & criticism

Criticism of the Junie B. Jones books focuses on two issues: the character's impulsive behavior and poor grammar and usage. Fans reply that the quality of Junie's writing reflects that of a typical kindergarten or first-grade student.[1]

An academic critique of Junie's use of language, "Junie B. Jones and the Language Police: Language Attitudes and the Marked Child Narrator", is among the presentations at the 2007 Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference in Boston, MA.

The books were challenged in a Lisbon, Wisconsin school district in 1999 when a parent voiced their objection to Junie B. calling characters "morons" and "stupid", stating that "the books model disrespect for parents and teachers". The challenge was not upheld and the books remained available to students in the school district.[2] In 2006, the title Junie B Jones and Some Sneaky, Peaky Spying was challenged in the Wake County, North Carolina school district.[3]

[edit] Film, TV or theatrical portraits

  • Junie B. Jones, theatrical adaptation by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich, Theatreworks USA[4][5]
  • Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business, theatrical adaptation by Joan Cushing

[edit] Books

Author Park does tours every year, assigning a girl with the most common features to Junie B. to portray her for small children at malls and libraries across the States. A lot of her readers (usually children between the ages of 5 and 9) ask her for photos and even for Junie B.'s "autographs" on the photos. Park carries instant camera equipment so that the children can take their photos with "Junie B." the same day.

Since the original book was published by Random House in 1992, twenty-six other Junie B. Jones books have been published.

  1. Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (ISBN 0-679-82642-4)
  2. Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business (ISBN 0-679-83886-4)
  3. Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth (ISBN 0-679-84407-4)
  4. Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying (ISBN 0-679-85101-1)
  5. Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake (ISBN 0-679-86694-9)
  6. Junie B. Jones and That Meanie Jim's Birthday (ISBN 0-679-86695-7)
  7. Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren (ISBN 0-679-86696-5)
  8. Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed (ISBN 0-679-86697-3)
  9. Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook (ISBN 0-679-88342-8)
  10. Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal (ISBN 0-679-88663-X)
  11. Junie B. Jones Is a Beauty Shop Guy (ISBN 0-679-88931-0)
  12. Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy (ISBN 0-679-89130-7)
  13. Junie B. Jones Is (Almost) a Flower Girl (ISBN 0-375-80038-7)
  14. Junie B. Jones And The Mushy Gushy Valentime [i.e. Valentine] (ISBN 0-375-80039-5)
  15. Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket (ISBN 0-375-80040-9)
  16. Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day (ISBN 0-375-80291-6)
  17. Junie B. Jones Is a Graduation Girl (ISBN 0-375-90292-9)
  18. Junie B., First Grader (at last!) (ISBN 0-375-80293-2)
  19. Junie B., First Grader: Boss of Lunch (ISBN 0-375-81517-1)
  20. Junie B., First Grader: Toothless Wonder (ISBN 0-375-80295-9)
  21. Junie B., First Grader: Cheater Pants (ISBN 0-375-82301-8)
  22. Junie B., First Grader: One-Man Band (ISBN 0-375-82522-3)
  23. Junie B., First Grader: Shipwrecked (ISBN 0-375-82804-4)
  24. Junie B., First Grader: Boo...and I Mean It! (ISBN 978-0-375-82806-5)
  25. Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (P.S. So Does May) (ISBN 0-375-82808-7)
  26. Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha! (ISBN 0-375-83403-6)
  27. Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny! (ISBN 9780375838095)

Tie-in products include plush dolls, the First Ever Junie B-Shirt (ISBN 9780375831256, actually a girls' t-shirt and not a book) and Top-Secret, Personal Beeswax: A Journal by Junie B. (and Me!) (ISBN 9780375823756).

[edit] Resources

[edit] References

  1. ^ Goodnow, Cecelia (2005-10-14). To her fans, Junie B.'s the 'bestest'. Seatle Post-Intelligencer.
  2. ^ Wisconsin School District Retains Junie B. Jones, Black Lagoon Books. American Library Association (1999-12-20).
  3. ^ Campbell, Duncan (2006-06-24). Gutted - slang book is banned. The Guardian.
  4. ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (2005-11-12). Irrepressible, Bespectacled Girl Tackles First Grade. The New York Times.
  5. ^ http://www.theatreworksusa.org/show_detail.cfm?show=1468

[edit] External links

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