| Junie B. Jones | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Barbara Park |
| Illustrator | Denise Brunkus |
| Genre(s) | Children's |
| Publisher | Random House |
Junie B. Jones is a children's book series written by Barbara Park and illustrated by Denise Brunkus. The story is written in Junie B.'s perspective.
Contents |
Junie Beatrice "Junie B." Jones The series' title character and main protagonist. Junie B. lives with her parents, and her baby brother, Ollie. She also has a dog named Tickle. She is 5 years old in the first kindergarten adventures, and six in the second. Junie B. is friendly and has a bright personality.[1] In Kindergarten, her two best friends are Lucille and Grace. In the first grade, her best friends are Herb, Jose, and Lennie. Junie B. has two rivals who is Jim in kindergarten and a May in first grade. In kindergarten, her classroom is Room Nine, and in First Grade, Room One. Junie B.'s favorite foods are spaghetti and meatballs, lemon pie, and ice cream. She has many catchphrases, such as "Wowie wow wow!", "Yeah, only", and "Hello! How are you today?". She is afraid of roosters because she thinks "they can peck your head into a nub", ponies because she thinks "they can stomple you to the ground and kill you", and clowns because she thinks "they are not normal people". She is shown to have brown hair and blue-green eyes. In the kindergarten series she was shown with short hair and a bow, yet in the first grade series she had longer, messier hair and the bow was dropped, being replaced by her purple glasses. In Junie B. Jones is a Beauty Shop Guy, she is shown that she wants to be a "beauty shop guy" herself.
Robert "Bob" Jones Junie B.'s and Ollie's lovable father, whom Junie B. calls "Daddy." He takes Junie B. to the beauty shop with him in Junie B. Jones is a Beauty Shop Guy, where she causes a disaster. In Junie B., First Grader: One Man Band, he teaches Junie B. to juggle. Robert is said to be playful and silly around his daughter. In Junie B. Jones is a Beauty Shop Guy, Junie B. says "he has other names too. Some people call him Bob, and other people call him Bobby. Plus today my mother called him Ace."
Susan Jones Junie B.'s and Ollie's protective mother, whom Junie B. calls "Mother." Since Junie B. loves ice cream, Susan made a rule at the grocery store that Junie B. can't shout "I WANT ICE CREAM!" and not to call her a "big meanie" when she won't buy it. It's possible that Susan's maiden name was Susan B. Miller, and that Frank and Helen Miller are Susan's parents. She is shown to have short, blonde hair and wears make-up. In Top Secret Personal Beeswax, Junie B. says "sometimes Daddy calls her Buttercup. That is ridiculous, I think." In Junie B.'s Essential Survival Guide to School she is said to have been at a school called Brainerd Elementary in 1st grade between 1983 and 1984 on her old report card, which she did not do so well on. Junie B. sees the report card and says "Mother was a bad kid."
Oliver "Ollie" Jones Junie B.'s baby brother. He is born in the book Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business. In Junie B., First Grader: BOO! And I Mean It, he is said to be ten months old in the month of October, so he is probably born in December. Junie B. dislikes her brother, and they have somewhat of a sibling rivalry. However, she does show that she cares for him sometimes, like in Junie B., First Grader: Toothless Wonder where Junie B. concludes that Ollie's first tooth was the baby tooth Junie B. lost, and she smiles at him. Ollie's first word was "moo" which was revealed in Junie B., First Grader: BOO...and I MEAN It! which was the reason he was dressed up in a cow suit. In Junie B. Jones and That Meanie Jim's Birthday he is shown to have a hard time to get to sleep .
Frank Miller Junie B.'s grandfather, or as she calls him, Grampa Miller. Grampa Miller, along with his wife, Helen Miller, babysits for her and her brother while their parents are at work. Junie B. calls Grampa Miller her "favoritest babysitter 'cause he doesn't even follow the 'structions!" In Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business, he is shown to be a smoker and smokes a cigar indoors. Junie B. enjoys helping him fix the upstairs toilet and "touching the big ball that floats on top."
Helen Miller Junie B.'s grandmother, Grandma Miller. Grandma Miller also babysits for Junie B. and her brother on occasion. Junie B. often calls her grandmother by her first name, Helen, much to the woman's annoyance. Grandma Miller has a pet canary bird named Twitter.
Phillip Johnny Bob Junie B.'s beloved stuffed elephant. She brings him on trips with her, as seen in Junie B. Jones is a Party Animal and Aloha-ha-ha!. Junie B. seems to feel a lot safer when he is around, as shown in Junie B. Jones has a Monster Under her Bed and BOO! And I MEAN It!. In "Aloha-ha-ha!", Junie B.'s mother brings her a new Hawaiian Barbie doll which Junie B. names Delores. Phillip Johnny Bob is shown to dislike Delores because of her "pointy, hard hands" poking him in the backpack while on the trip to Hawaii. Delores is only mentioned in this book.
Lucille Junie B.'s rich and somewhat spoiled best friend in kindergarten. She has a Nanna who pampers her and always gives her what she wants. Although Lucille is in Junie B.'s first grade class, she deserts Junie B. in the beginning of the first grade and befriends the African-American twins, Camille and Chenille. Junie B. says that she doesn't like Lucille very much in the first grade series. She is considered the queen bee or the school diva of the book series. In Junie B. Jones and her Big Fat Mouth, she is shown to have brown hair, although in Junie B. Jones sticker books, she is shown to have blond hair. She also has an older brother.
Grace Junie B.'s athletic, African-American best friend in Kindergarten. Like Junie B., she has a baby brother. Grace is a very fast runner and wears pink high-top sneakers. In contrast with Junie B., Grace is very well-behaved, and she speaks with proper grammar. She sits with Junie B. every day on the school bus in Kindergarten. In first grade she makes a new friend named Bobbi Jean Piper, whom Junie B. shares a rivalry with. Junie B. says she likes Grace better than Lucille and refers to her as "That Grace". Grace is known to be competitive and a bit of a show-off. She sometimes fights with Lucille. She also has a younger brother.
Ricardo -Junie B.'s "boyfriend" in kindergarten until Junie B. Jones is (almost) a Flower Girl where Junie B. confronts him about chasing "New" Thelma and says that only boyfriends and girlfriends should chase each other. In which Ricardo tells her that they should start "chasing other people" and leaves, much to Junie B's dismay. Ricardo also wants to be a construction worker when he grows up. In Junie B. Jones is a Party Animal it is shown that Junie B knows Ricardo's father.
Paulie Allen Puffer A boy in Junie B.'s kindergarten class that often tells her scary or funny stories which she always believes are true. In Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed, he tells her about the monster that lives under the bed which rekindles her fear of monsters. In Junie B. Jones is a Graduation Girl he tells her that being in the first grade is really fun because they are the boss of the kindergarteners. He is friends with Jim and seems to be one of the oldest students in the class. In Junie B., First Grader: BOO...and I MEAN It! he tells Junie B. "five scary secrets". Paulie also has an older brother.
William A very shy and soft spoken boy who Junie B. says would be easy for her to beat up. She refers to him as "Crybaby William". He can be upset very easily as seen in Junie B. Jones and That Meanie Jim's Birthday when she runs past him stealing his invitation. He also has stage fright as seen in Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy when he became nervous after the teacher asked him if he'd like to take out his pet frog and also in Junie B. Jones is a Graduation Girl when he tries to run away during graduation rehearsal.
Roger A blonde boy in of Junie B.'s kindergarten and first grade class. He sometimes isn't known, but in Junie B. Jones is Captain Field Day, he tried to win the field day race. Also in Junie B., First Grader: Shipwrecked, he threw up Cheerios on the floor and is sent back home.
Herbert "Herb" Junie B.'s best friend in first grade. He seems to dislike May as much as Junie B. does. In Junie B. Top Secret Personal Beeswax, he and Junie B. seem to have a crush on each other.
Jose Another one of Junie B.'s best friends in first grade. He is Hispanic and speaks Spanish. Sometimes, he greets Junie B. in Spanish. Jose won the bouquet of flowers for his mother in Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny.
Lennie Another one of Junie B.'s best friends in first grade. He is quiet and almost always agrees with Junie B., Herb, and Jose. Lennie often brags about his spiky hair.
Sheldon Potts A good friend of Junie B. in first grade. He is one of a handful of characters whose first and last names are known. Sheldon is known for showing his bare feet in class when taking off his shoes and socks. He can be awfully shy in front of a crowd as revealed in Junie B., First Grader: One Man Band. In Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny, he and Lucille are shown to have a crush on each other. He is shown to have blonde hair.
Shirley Another good friend of Junie B. in first grade. Although there is not much is known about her, she sometimes chats with Junie B. She is shown to have short black hair.
Zachary Not shown in the Junie B. Jones collection. Except for Junie B. Jones is a Second Grader.
Jim Junie B.'s Kindergarten rival. He teases her early on in the series, like in "Junie B. Jones and that Meanie Jim's Birthday", he didn't invite her to his party, even though his mom told him to give out invitations to the whole class. But in Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine, he admits he has a crush on her through the valentine and become friends. In "Junie B. Jones is a Graduation Girl", after he heard about Junie B.'s grape juice accident, he makes the class color their white gowns and caps too with their own colors.
May Junie B.'s first grade rival. She sits beside Junie B. in the back of the classroom in the first grade adventures. May often calls to Junie B. "Junie Jones", which really upsets her. They frequently disrupt the class with their arguing. The only time they are ever nice to each other is at the end of Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (P.S. So Does May). May doesn't like to admit that she is a little jealous of Junie B. Also, she is a notorious tattletale.
Mrs. Junie B.'s kindergarten teacher, and head of Room Nine. In all of the Kindergarten adventures, Junie B. says: "Her name is Mrs. She has another name too but I just like Mrs. and that's all." In the first book, Junie B. says that she does not remember the teacher's last name. In Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying, Junie B. caught Mrs. stealing grapes while at a grocery store.
Mr. Scary Junie B.'s first grade teacher and current teacher. She believes that he made up his name because he is actually very nice and "doesn't scare her, hardly." He makes his class keep journals, where they write about whatever subjects they want. Mr. Scary often has to break up Junie B. and May's arguments. He can also be very firm when Junie B. and May tattle on each other.
Principal The principal at Junie B.'s school, whom she believes lives in his office and is "the king of the school, only he doesn't actually wear a crown." She refers to him only as "Principal." They get to know each other pretty well during the kindergarten series since Junie B's antics often wind up getting her sent to the office. Junie B. does not like to go to his office because there is a "scary typing lady" in there that is somewhat mean, never smiles, and always "forces" her to sit in a blue chair which she says is "where bad kids have to sit." Her mom eventually made a rule at home that getting herself sent to the office would get her "grounded, young lady."
Gus Vallony The janitor. He helps Junie B. when she is accidentally locked in the school in Stupid, Smelly Bus. She dresses up as a janitor for career day in Big Fat Mouth. He cleans up "splat-o" (vomit) in Shipwrecked.
Mrs. Gladys Gutzman The school cafeteria lady. She brings cookies to the kindergarten students. In Boss of Lunch, Junie B. helps her out in the cafeteria after she complains about how the first graders don't get cookies.
Mrs. Weller The school nurse. In Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying she puts a band-aid on Junie B.'s head after Lucille tells her "it's not a good idea to keep secrets inside your head", after which Junie B. runs into the office yelling "my head's gonna blow!" In First Grader At Last! she tells Junie B. that she needs glasses after Mr. Scary finds out she has issues reading from the board. Minor Characters Bonnie Bonnie is Joe's niece in Junie B Jones is Almost a flower Girl.
Mrs. Stichnot Junie B's second grade teacher.
Since the original book was published by Random House in 1992, twenty-eight other Junie B. Jones books have been published. Twenty-seven books belong to the Junie B. Jones Series and there is also a Junie B. Jones Journal. The Junie B. Jones series has also been translated into the Spanish and French languages as well.
Tie-in products include plush dolls, the First Ever Junie B-Shirt (ISBN 9780375831256).
The Junie B. Jones series came in at #71 on the American Library Association's list of the Top 100 Banned or Challenged Books from 2000-2009.[5] Reasons cited are poor social values taught by the books and Junie B. Jones not being considered a good role model due to her mouthiness and bad spelling/grammar.[6]