Junie B. Jones

"Junie B. Jones" is a fictional character in a children's series written by Barbara Park and illustrated by Denise Brunkus. Junie B. Jones is the main character in the comical series. Junie B. Jones is first introduced to us as a kindergartener and is currently a first grader. Junie B. Jones exemplifies many of the comical aspects of childhood: fear of monsters, grammatical errors, dealing with siblings, the first day of school and innocent crushes.

Characters

Junie Beatrice Jones or "Junie B." as she is called for short, is a five- to six-year-old American girl, and is the series' main protagonist. She's also the narratress of the series. 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. She is afraid of, or fears clowns, roosters and ponies, because she says clowns "are not normal people", a rooster might "peck her head into a nub" and a pony might stomp her into the ground, which she saw on a fictional TV show called "When Ponies Attack". She also occasionally fears Old MacDonald's Farm, rabbits and burros.

While Junie B. is in kindergarten, she is in room 9, and has a teacher to whom she refers only as "Mrs.", because Junie B. forgot Mrs.'s last name.

As a first grade student, Junie B. is very inquisitive, as she likes to ask her teacher, "Mr. Scary" (as all the children in her class call him), who "doesn't even scare her hardly", a lot of questions about anything and everything. She fears challenges at times but mostly meets them successfully. Her room's name is Room One.

Junie B.'s family consists of her parents, baby brother, and grandparents. Her father's name is revealed to be "Robert" or "Robert Jones" in "Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake" and "Junie B. Jones Is a Beauty Shop Guy". Her baby brother is named Ollie, and he was born in "Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business". Junie B.'s grandparents are Frank and Helen Miller, and she also has a pet dog named Tickle. She also has an array of stuffed animals who speak through her: an elephant named Phillip Johnny Bob, a teddy bear named Teddy, and the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls named Ruth and Larry, respectively. She loves fun.

Junie B.'s best friends in kindergarten are Lucille, an upper-class girl who is accustomed to being pampered by her nanna/grandmother, and Grace (whom Junie B. refers to as "that Grace"), an athletic, African-American girl. Junie B. occasionally hates Lucille in "Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth". Junie B. has a close relationship with the "Boss of the School," an unnamed principal (who was mentioned in "Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (P.S. So Does May)"), as she has been sent to him on numerous occasions. She also has made friends with a janitor named Gus Vallony (originally introduced as the "man with the can" in "Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus" and an unnamed janitor, referred to in the last chapter of "Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth". The janitor appeared once again in "Junie B., First Grader: Shipwrecked"). Junie B.'s classmates in kindergarten are Charlotte, Paulie Allen Puffer, Jamel Hall, Ham, crybaby William (whom Junie B. originally wanted to beat up), Roger, Lilly, Donald (not to be confused with a character from the 26th book), and Ricardo (Junie B.'s "boyfriend"). The person Junie B. dislikes the most is "that meanie Jim," the energetic class bully, whom she befriended on Valentine's Day when they were in kindergarten. They became good friends for a short while, until they both graduated from kindergarten and went their separate ways. The people from Room Eight Junie B. knows include handsome Warren (Lucille's ex-boyfriend), and new Thelma (whom Junie B.'s boyfriend Ricardo always chases).

In first grade her friends include Herbert (who rides on the bus with Junie B.), Lennie (who has spikey hair), José (who speaks English and Spanish), Sheldon Potts and Shirley. Lucille is in Junie B.'s class, but she has made new friends with two African-American twins Camille and Chenille. Junie B.'s new nemesis is May (she calls her Tattletale May), an energetic, rambunctious, antagonistic, megalomaniacal girl who often refers her as "Junie Jones". May occasionally calls Junie B. by her name at the end of "Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (P.S. So Does May)". In "Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny", Sheldon got a crush on Lucille. Other characters are mentioned throughout the series.

Controversy among parents

Junie B.'s speech has raised controversy among parents. Like many children, Junie B. mispronounces words (e.g. "pasketti" instead of "spaghetti", “bestest” instead of “best”, "valentime" instead of "valentine", “splode” instead of “explode”, “Little Miss Muppet Who Sat on her Trumpet” instead of “Little Miss Muffet Who Sat on her Tuffet”, "The Wizard of Odds" instead of "The Wizard of Oz", “Cattle Act” instead of “Cadillac” and other mispronounced phrases) and conjugates words incorrectly (e.g. “stoled” instead of "stole", “stucked” instead of "stuck", “throwed” instead of "threw", “runned” instead of "ran").

She also sometimes omits the "g" at the end of words (e.g. “shinin”' instead of “shining”) and she inserts a “y” or “ie” into many words, such as “baldie” (bald), “meanie” (mean), and “beanies” (beans). Junie B. also makes up terms like “zooming” for running and “springing” for jumping.

Some parents avoid these books because they would rather not expose their children to bad English, while others view it as an opportunity to teach proper grammar. Parents also censor the books in their homes because of Junie B.'s behavior: talking back to teachers and being childishly rude.

Overall, however, the parental response is positive, and the Junie B. Jones books continue to be bestsellers.

Books

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.

#Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (ISBN 0-679-82642-4) It's Junie B.'s first school day, and she likes it; but she hates the bus.
# "Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business" (ISBN 0-679-83886-4) Junie B.'s mother gives birth to a baby boy, giving Junie B. her own "monkey brother".
# "Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth" (ISBN 0-679-84407-4) Junie B.'s class is having "Job Day" and everyone is excited : except for Junie B.
# "Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying" (ISBN 0-679-85101-1) At the grocery store, Junie B. sees her Mrs. eating grapes that she did not purchase.
# "Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake" (ISBN 0-679-86694-9) Carnival Night at school will be fun, but Junie B. is so determined to win at everything that she practices for it.......and doesn't win.
# "Junie B. Jones and That Meanie Jim's Birthday" (ISBN 0-679-86695-7) Junie B.'s constant bully, Jim, is having a birthday that he doesn't invite her to.
# "Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren" (ISBN 0-679-86696-5) Junie B.'s friend, Lucille, makes a boyfriend who soon attracts Junie B.'s attention.
# "Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed" (ISBN 0-679-86697-3) When Junie B. is told that a monster lurks under her bed, she takes desperate actions to kill it.
# "Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook" (ISBN 0-679-88342-8) When somebody steals her favorite mittens, Junie B. tries to get them back.
# "Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal" (ISBN 0-679-88663-X) Junie B.'s friend Lucille invites Junie B. to spend the night at her nanna's mansion.
# "Junie B. Jones Is a Beauty Shop Guy" (ISBN 0-679-88931-0) Junie B. thinks she can be a Beauty Shop Guy, so she cuts her own hair.
# "Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy" (ISBN 0-679-89130-7) Junie B. thinks a fishstick is a pet and brings it to school for Pet Day.
# "Junie B. Jones Is (Almost) a Flower Girl" (ISBN 0-375-80038-7) Junie B.'s Aunt Flo is having a wedding, but Junie B. is not the flower girl.
# "Junie B. Jones And The Mushy Gushy Valentime"(ISBN 0-375-80039-5) Jim likes Junie B. so he sends her a special valentine.
# "Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket" (ISBN 0-375-80040-9) Junie B.'s class is having a field trip to a farm but Junie B. has a problem with farms.
# "Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day" (ISBN 0-375-80291-6) Junie B.'s class is having a field day and guess who the captain is?
# "Junie B. Jones Is a Graduation Girl" (ISBN 0-375-90292-9) Junie B. is graduating from kindergarten! The long awaited day is finally here!
# "Junie B., First Grader (at last!)" (ISBN 0-375-80293-2) Junie B. becomes a first grader and gets glasses.
# "Junie B., First Grader: Boss of Lunch" (ISBN 0-375-81517-1) Junie B. helps around the cafeteria.
# "Junie B., First Grader: Toothless Wonder" (ISBN 0-375-80295-9) Junie B. loses her first tooth.
# "Junie B., First Grader: Cheater Pants" (ISBN 0-375-82301-8) Junie B. copies off Mays homework.
# "Junie B., First Grader: One-Man Band" (ISBN 0-375-82522-3) Sheldon doesn't want to be in the band, so Junie B. does it all herself.
# "Junie B., First Grader: Shipwrecked" (ISBN 0-375-82804-4) Junie B. plays a ship in a school play about Columbus.
# "Junie B., First Grader: Boo...and I Mean It!" (ISBN 978-0-375-82806-5) At Halloween Junie B. tries to scare people because she thinks some of them are monsters.
# "Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (P.S. So Does May)" (ISBN 0-375-82808-7) Junie B.'s class does a sing-a-long around Christmas, and Junie B. doesn't sing the right lyrics.
# "Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha!" (ISBN 0-375-83403-6) Junie B. goes on vacation to Hawaii and takes lots of pictures for her photo journal.
# "Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny!" (ISBN 9780375838095) Junie B. calls May a "Dumb Bunny" at Lucille's party.

"Top-Secret, Personal Beeswax: A Journal by Junie B. (and Me!)" (ISBN 9780375823756).Tie-in products include plush dolls, the "First Ever Junie B-Shirt" (ISBN 9780375831256.

Film, TV or theatrical portraits

* "Junie B. Jones", theatrical adaptation by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich, Theatreworks USA [ Van Gelder, Lawrence (2005-11-12). [http://theater2.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/theater/reviews/12juni.html Irrepressible, Bespectacled Girl Tackles First Grade] . "The New York Times". ] [ [http://www.theatreworksusa.org/show_detail.cfm?show=1468 Welcome to TheatreworksUSA ] ]
* "Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business", theatrical adaptation by Joan Cushing
* "Junie B. Jones "The Stupid Smelly Bus Tour", Random House, [ [www.randomhouse.com/junieb] ] Tour by Momentum Worldwide
* 2008 Tour - Caitlin Thurnauer as Junie B. Jones, Jay Paranada as Mr. Woo. A Real Tour. Tour Managed by Michael Barth

Resources

References

ources

* [http://www.theatreworksusa.org/uploads/review/review_175.pdf]
* [http://www.theatreworksusa.org/uploads/review/review_185.pdf]
* [http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/junieb/books/books.html]
* [http://www.kidsreads.com/series/series-junie-titles.asp]
* [http://www.kidsreads.com/series/series-junie-author.asp]
* [http://www.nymf.org/module-ShowManager-display-sid-214-theme-NYMFPrinter.html]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/09/AR2006110900410_pf.html]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/26/fashion/26junie.html?scp=1&sq=Junie+B.+Jones&st=nyt]
* [http://www.playlibrary.com/2007/05/31/we-met-junie-b-jones]

External links

* [http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/junieb/Junie B. Jones] publisher website