Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy

Barbara Park's Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy is a very funny school story for 8 year olds about Pet Day, and a girl whose only pet isn't allowed in.

What happens

Room Nine is having Pet Day! Junie B. is so thrilled she skips round the classroom telling everyone, until Mrs. grabs her by the braces. Then come the rules. Pets in cages only. No dogs or cats at all, not even in a cage.

Junie B. only has a dog, Tickle. So she gets to bring a photo. Meanwhile Grace is bringing her goldfish and Lucille is wearing her expensive new riding outfit. Where's the justice in that?

Grandma Helen Miller offers to lend her canary, Twitter. Junie B. whispers that she hates that dumb bird. He pecked her! (Grandma points out she'd put a potato on his head. "It was a hat.")

Then Grandma jokes about the raccoon that keeps raiding her bin, and Junie B. takes her completely seriously. The next morning she's in the kitchen with Daddy's fishing net, ready to catch it.

What follows is a whole weekend of pet hunting. There's a teeny earthworm called Noodle, who lives in a mayonnaise jar and won't come out when he's called. There are three ants carrying a cheese puff, and a fly called Buzzy who she swatted with the jar lid. And then Grandma comes back from the lake with a giant fish in the ice box.

Junie B. names him Sparkle and takes him for a slide round the kitchen floor on Tickle's lead. Mother has to explain, very gently, that Sparkle is dead. "Not a problem," says Junie B.

That's what's so funny about her. Her logic is completely watertight as long as you're five. Mother says she can't take a dead fish to school. Is it in the rules? No. Then she can take him!

It's worth saying that quite a few creatures don't make it in this one. The fly bites the dust, the ants make off with him, and Sparkle came home from the lake in an ice box. It's all very matter-of-fact and played for laughs, but a child who's tender about animals might want a cuddle at the Buzzy bit.

The ending is a proper laugh and best left as a surprise. Let's just say Junie B. finds a pet in the most unlikely place.

What to read next

Animal fans could try Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket. Room Nine is off on a farm trip, and Junie B. is quite sure the animals there are out to get her.