Junie B., First Grader (at last!)

Junie B., First Grader (at last!)

by Barbara Park

illustrated by Denise Brunkus

This chapter books is goes through Junie B. as she starts her school year off as a first-grader. It is part of the Junie B. Jones series of chapter books. Barbara Park does a great job incorporating the previous books, but does not make it imperative for the reader to know past stories by giving a brief summary when new situations arise in the book. For example, Park explains enough past context in this book when Junie B. deals with her kindergarten friend Lucille leaving her past friendship with Junie B. for two other new first graders Camille and Chenille. Junie B., First Grader (at last!) also discusses the surprise of Junie B. finding out that she needs glasses. Readers are able to relate to these common elementary school situations. I enjoyed the illustrations that came after every page or two because they help build the fun image of goofy Junie B. with her messy hair and untied shoes. I am slightly surprised with the cover image because it shows Junie B. with glasses already on. So much of this book is having the reader try to guess what is going wrong by watching Junie B. try to figure out what she needs. I think the cover illustration gives away too much of the surprise and plot of the book. Overall this is a very cleverly written book about a fun story about a girl that many young readers will fall in love with.

Intended Age 7-9