Junie B. Jones, First Grader (At Last!)

Barbara Park's Junie B. Jones, First Grader is a very funny school story for 8 year olds about a girl who can't quite read the board.

What happens

Junie B. has made it to first grade, at last (that's roughly Year 2 for us). Her legs are so wobbly on the first morning that Daddy has to carry her to the classroom. And then it all goes wrong.

Her bestest friend from kindergarten, Lucille, has swapped her for a pair of twins called Camille and Chenille. Their names rhyme with Lucille, you see. Junie B.'s doesn't.

Her bus friend Grace sits with somebody new. The girl next to her in class, May, shushes her about everything. First grade, Junie B. decides, is a flop.

Then her teacher writes some words on the board. Everyone draws a dog or a cat or a clock. Junie B. draws a screaming chicken. She read "clock" as "cluck"!

Anyone who has met Junie B. before will know that it's literally like hearing her talk. She says "bestest" and "flutterflies" and "Grr". She calls her teacher Mr. Scary (that really is what everyone calls him, and he's lovely). She's cheeky, dramatic and very quick to decide who she does not care for.

Her grammar is all over the place and that's the joke. Your reader will probably spot every mistake and love correcting her.

Underneath the giggles it's a really kind story. A trip to the school nurse and an eye chart full of "smudgies" means Junie B. needs glasses. She's terrified everyone will laugh at her. What if she looks like a goonie bird and nobody wants to be her friend?

Lots of children go through exactly that worry, about glasses or braces or anything that makes them feel different. There's also a boy called Herb who's new and doesn't have any bus friends yet. He might just be the friend she needs.

If you've got a reader starting a new class and missing old friends, this is a lovely one to share. It's short enough to read in a sitting or two, and it's funny all the way through.

What to read next

If they fall for her, Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus takes you back to her very first day of kindergarten, when she's almost six and very worried about the bus.