by Barbara Park
This one was pretty good. In Junie B. Jones and her Big Fat Mouth, our little protagonist can\’t decide what she wants to be when she grows up. All her classmates have picked things like artist, superhero, guard, princess, fireman, etc. Junie B. wants a job that uses all the things she finds attractive- paintbrushes are cool, so are rings of keys, and she\’d love to help save people. Can she figure out a job that encompasses all her passions? I really liked how Junie B. highlighted a blue-collar job that the kids at first laughed at, but in the end they recognized how important it was to the normal functioning of their very own school. And in the meantime Junie B. has a new grown-up friend and role model. Sure she has a smart mouth and says things like \”stupid\” and \”hate\” but kids can be like that. As long as yours recognizes that Junie is misbehaving, I think they can see the humor in the book and this one happens to have a really good message too. I wonder if the title could be more appropriate, though. It doesn\’t quite seem to fit what the story is actually about.
rating: 4/5 …….. 69 pages, 1993