Junie B. Jones and That Meanie Jim's B-Day (Junie B. Jones 6, paper)

Rating:
Summary: Junie B Jones and that Meanie Jim's Birthday
Review: I can't believe how funny this is!! I was reading it to my 5 year old and when he fell asleep I found myself continuing to read it. It is very funny for the parent and yet teaches a valuable lesson to our children.

I am looking forward to reading more of the Junie B books!!

Rating:
Summary: Another delightful Junie B. escapade!
Review: I've never written an Amazon review before, but I felt a real obligation to trash this book. It is riddled with bad grammar and syntax -- I mean several errors on every page. I don't have it in front of me and can't remember the names, but a typical case would be "Me and Grace had a fight," instead of "Grace and I had a fight." Since the book is narrated by the protagonist, these errors are not only in direct quotes but also in the main text.

In short, the book is written the way many kids talk. This is a perfectly legitimate technique for adult books, and can certainly add to the feeling of authenticity, although the hundreds of books I loved and devoured as a child did not suffer for being grammatically correct. But it is very confusing to a child who is trying to learn proper English in school, and it undermines the efforts of teachers. When children read such usage in a book, what are they supposed to think? What habbits will they learn? And how can a teacher correct the child's own usage when the child can point to a book and say "They do it like that here"?

I was dismayed to discover that this book is part of a series by a popular author, and I couldn't believe it when I saw that the publisher is Scholastic! Perhaps this means that an official decision has been made to abandon traditional rules of English usage in favor of those of the playground. But if so, I wasn't notified, and my career effectiveness would nosedive if I followed suit. So would most people's.

Barbara Park and Scholastic are doing a tremendous disservice to children by habituating them at an early age, in print, to usage that can only hurt them both in school and later in life. These books, and others like them, should be blacklisted by teachers, schools and liblaries. Censorship on the basis of content is a tricky subject, but bad grammar in children's books can only hurt their very vulnerable readers.

Rating:
Summary: Riddled With Bad Grammar
Review: I've never written an Amazon review before, but I felt a real obligation to trash this book. It is riddled with bad grammar and syntax -- I mean several errors on every page. I don't have it in front of me and can't remember the names, but a typical case would be "Me and Grace had a fight," instead of "Grace and I had a fight." Since the book is narrated by the protagonist, these errors are not only in direct quotes but also in the main text.

In short, the book is written the way many kids talk. This is a perfectly legitimate technique for adult books, and can certainly add to the feeling of authenticity, although the hundreds of books I loved and devoured as a child did not suffer for being grammatically correct. But it is very confusing to a child who is trying to learn proper English in school, and it undermines the efforts of teachers. When children read such usage in a book, what are they supposed to think? What habbits will they learn? And how can a teacher correct the child's own usage when the child can point to a book and say "They do it like that here"?

I was dismayed to discover that this book is part of a series by a popular author, and I couldn't believe it when I saw that the publisher is Scholastic! Perhaps this means that an official decision has been made to abandon traditional rules of English usage in favor of those of the playground. But if so, I wasn't notified, and my career effectiveness would nosedive if I followed suit. So would most people's.

Barbara Park and Scholastic are doing a tremendous disservice to children by habituating them at an early age, in print, to usage that can only hurt them both in school and later in life. These books, and others like them, should be blacklisted by teachers, schools and liblaries. Censorship on the basis of content is a tricky subject, but bad grammar in children's books can only hurt their very vulnerable readers.

Rating:
Summary: Another delightful Junie B. escapade!
Review: This is a great book to read with your favorite children. There are many lessons to be learned here about behavior, feelings, emotions, fears, and about getting what you ask for, but not REALLY wanting it. Discussing these stories with your children can help them understand how to cope with life's circumstances. We discuss Junie's poor grammar and the behavior of the children in the stories. It helps the children in our family better understand social skills and discipline. It also encourages them to share their experiences with their family members who may need to know about them. Adults in our family up to the age of 90 laugh at Junie's adventures and delight in the humorous twists to the stories. The children relate to Junie's problems and learn from her experiences.

Rating:
Summary: Junie's for real!
Review: Written from the very believable point of view of a precocious little girl, this story was at least as enjoyable a read for me as it was for my daughters! If you have a kid, know a kid, ever been a kid, or even ever SEEN a kid, check this (as well as the rest of the Junie B Jones series) out. She's the Eloise of the 21st century.