This is an excellent book about the ups and downs of going to a new classroom. Junie B. is starting first grade and is very nervous. Her best friend from Kindergarten has new best friends. The girl who sits next to Junie B. is always very mean. Her old bus buddy has a new bus buddy. Throughout this book, Junie B. makes new friends and gets glasses, all while actually convincing herself that she actually likes first grade. I liked that Junie B. had a writer's notebook and a couple of her entries were copied into this book. The journal entries looked like they had been written on notebook paper and the font looked like a child's handwriting. I think this was a nice touch and made it really seem like it was her journal that I was reading. In general many children are nervous to start a new grade at school so I think that reading this book would give them something to relate to. They also might be able to realzie that their school year is going to go great, even if they have to make new friends and overcome the changes since the past year. I know lots of children who enjoy reading the Junie B. series and I think the main reason so many kids like it is because it is so relatable. As a teacher it was interesting to read this and remind myself of the little details that made a big difference on those first few days of school. I believe that it's important to make all students feel welcome in the classroom and this book helped me realize a few ways that I could do that.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
"Junie B., First Grader (at last!)" by Barbara Park
This is an excellent book about the ups and downs of going to a new classroom. Junie B. is starting first grade and is very nervous. Her best friend from Kindergarten has new best friends. The girl who sits next to Junie B. is always very mean. Her old bus buddy has a new bus buddy. Throughout this book, Junie B. makes new friends and gets glasses, all while actually convincing herself that she actually likes first grade. I liked that Junie B. had a writer's notebook and a couple of her entries were copied into this book. The journal entries looked like they had been written on notebook paper and the font looked like a child's handwriting. I think this was a nice touch and made it really seem like it was her journal that I was reading. In general many children are nervous to start a new grade at school so I think that reading this book would give them something to relate to. They also might be able to realzie that their school year is going to go great, even if they have to make new friends and overcome the changes since the past year. I know lots of children who enjoy reading the Junie B. series and I think the main reason so many kids like it is because it is so relatable. As a teacher it was interesting to read this and remind myself of the little details that made a big difference on those first few days of school. I believe that it's important to make all students feel welcome in the classroom and this book helped me realize a few ways that I could do that.
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I have not read this Junie B. book recently. I possibly may have read it as a child. But as of lately, I've read Junie B. Jones and Handsom Warren about 4 times in the past two weeks. One little girl at the after school program I work at loves Junie B and while we have about 5 other Junie B books she always chooses the one about Handsome Warren. I love the stories and think they are stories that children can relate to a lot. The only thing I disagree with is Junie B.'s language. I'm not so sure it is a good idea to enforce such poor English in a children's book. I don't know that all children would understand that these things are usually only how children speak and need to be changed. But other than that I love the Junie B. books.
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