Junie B. Jones - Love it or Loathe it

kit_kats_mom wrote: I bought two boxed sets of these books based on my neighbors reccomendation. I am not impressed. Katherine prefers her Nancy Drew's to these. The girl is not respectful and she doesn't speak proper english. Plus, she has loads of "stupid's" "fat's" and "dumb's" that we just dont' use in our house. I'm all for some fun and I clearly remember loving Beverly Cleary's Ramona books but for some reason, I don't recall her being so sassy. Maybe I'm wrong but these books rub me the wrong way.

I should have known better. The neighbor who reccomended the books has a daughter who is K's age. She's more socially mature meaning sassier, watches hanna montana etc.

what do you think of these books?

5littleladies replied: We don't read them. For the same reasons that you listed. I cannot stand her sassy attitude and I really hate the improper English.

Ramona was one of my favorites-I bought them all for my girls.

kit_kats_mom replied: I guess I should edit since I don't want to start a controversy. LOL

I have no problem with kids who like Hanna Montana or are more socially mature than Kat. I just would prefer her to stay a little girl for a bit longer and not rush to grow up too fast. In this age of commercialisim, I am doing my best to curb the appeal and let her enjoy being a kid.

I think overall, the books are too dumbed down for Kat and I don't think that acting that way should be glamorized nor will I encourage it in her. I'm not going to ban the books because I'm ok with her reading them if she wants, however, I will say that I'm pleased that she is making other choices in her reading fare.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Yep, ITA!! Maddie won't read her books. She doesn't like them at all. She really loves the Magic Treehouse books. Or anything to do with Killer Whales.

mom21kid2dogs replied: Olivia loves a wide range of books including Junie B Jones. She also reads a very large variety of books~anything from picture books(loves the Olivia series) to Because of Winn Dixie (read in one day). It hasn't stunted her 3rd grade reading level a bit nor has her English suffered (performs above standard there, too). She knows that in our house and in our conversations we don't ever use words like "dumb" "stupid" or even "butt" for that matter. She thinks Junie is pretty funny and loves her antics. Fortunately, she's bright enough to get that Junie's behavior doesn't mean feel free to try this at home or school! We had to deal with the language thing a awhile ago because some of the show tune music she sings occasionally uses less than desirable words. I'd say if a child read them without benefit of a parental filter they could be bad but that's not the case in our house.

Although Junie seems to stir up a love/hate controversy, I heard them widely read in public K & 1st grade classrooms this year while I was working.

jcc64 replied: I found Junie B Jones incredibly annoying when my 12 yo read them back in the day. I haven't introduced Corey to them, though I freely admit she is a Hannah Montana junkie. Honestly, I've watched that show a few times, and I'm still at a loss as to what is so inappropriate for 5yo's to see on there. I don't find Hannah sassy or disrespectful or slutty. Occasionally, Corey will ask me the meaning of a 3 syllable word she heard on the show, but that's about it.
Have you read Fancy Nancy, Cary? She's kind of cute- I don't know how many books there are in the series--maybe check her out. Corey's reading skills are not that sophisticated- she's reading at a mid- 1st grade level. She's certainly not up to the chapter books yet. K is reading Nancy Drew at 5 yo??? That's very impressive. I remember reading that stuff when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. Maybe I was slow??????

MommyToAshley replied: Ashley reads a variety of titles and she likes Junie B Jones. I don't care too much for some of the words she uses or the improper English, but Ashley will actually point out that it's not proper English. Or if one of the characters teases the other character in the book, Ashley will say something like "that wasn't a nice thing to say". It has actually opened the dialogue about how to handle those situations in real life. The overall messages in the books are good and Ashley enjoys them, so it encourages reading. I wouldn't say they are her favorite series, but I don't discourage her from them either. In fact, I think some of them were read to her Kindergarten classroom.

Of course, I let her watch Hanna Montana too. It's not that I want or let her grow up too fast, but she loves music and loves the show. I don't see anything inappropriate in the show and some of the messages are good. I'd actually rather she watch Hanna Montana than Sponge Bob.

jcc64 replied:

Me too, Dee Dee. That goes for most of the Nickelodeon cartoons, actually.

lisar replied: We dont read them here either. Lexi is into like Oliver Twist and those kinds of books right now.

Kirstenmumof3 replied: Emily absolutely love Junie B Jones when she was 6 and even Spencer liked to listen to the stories. There great for young readers!

punkeemunkee'smom replied: I just bought a bunch of these books for Taylor because all of my friends rave about how they like them so much I read the first 3 pages of one yesterday and they are going back to Barnes and Noble......

We love the fairy collection from Scolastic right now.

Speaking of Beverly Cleary I loved Super Fudge when I was in about 3rd grade.



I don't think that was the case-we were taught to read at a slower pace then alot of schools teach now. The program we use teaches at a slower pace but is supposed to have the highest success rate at teaching reading/spelling in conjunction.

About Hannah I do feel she has become a bit more 'teenagery' as of late but Taylor still loves the music and I allow her to watch the shows. She has been into Full House lately which cracks me up BUT I don't recall some of the issues on there being so mature

gr33n3y3z replied: Katie read a few of those but Katie really liked to read Amelia Bedelia books
she had them all. Maybe give those books a try.