Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus - Softcover

Barbara Park

Softcover

ISBN 10: 059063903X ISBN 13: 9780590639033

Publisher: Scholastic Inc., 1998

Synopsis

One of the initial titles released under the First Stepping Stone imprint, chapter books aimed at newly independent readers and arranged in series, Park's ( Skinnybones ) jolly caper is the first installment to feature Junie B., a feisty almost-six-year-old who is not at all happy about riding the bus on the first day of kindergarten. In fact, she doesn't like a single thing about this vehicle: not the kids who get on it ("Loud kids. And some of them were the kind who look like meanies"); not the door ("If it closes on you by accident, it will cut you in half, and you will make a squishy sound"); and not the black smoke it emits ("It's called bus breath, I think"). Other equally candid, on-target perceptions fill Junie B.'s first-person narrative, which is peppered with reader-involving questions ("Only guess what?"; " 'Cause guess why?") that help to propel the story at a whiz-bang pace. When a classmate tells Junie B. that kids will pour chocolate milk on her head on the way home, the spunky child finds a way to avoid the dreaded bus. Park convinces beginning readers that Junie B. - and reading--are lots of fun. Ages 6-9.

About this title

Review

10 Top-Secret Personal Facts About Junie B

By Me, Junie B. Jones

1. My birthday is Junie the 1st!
2. My mother's name is Susan, Susie, Suz, Mommy, and Mother. Plus sometimes Daddy calls her Buttercup. That is ridiculous I think.
3. My favorite food is yummy, delicious lemon pie. Plus also I like 'pasketti and meatballs and whipped cream in a can, and sugar cookies! I do not like peas. Or Tuna Noodle Stinkle  (that dish does not smell delightful).
4. When I grow up I would like to be the janitor of my school. The janitor saves people from danger. And paints litter cans. And carry keys that unlock the bathroom. Without the janitor we couldn't even go to the toilet. I would also  enjoy being Beauty Shop guy, I think.  
5. My grandma, Helen Miller has a pet bird named Twitter. (Only I hate that dumb bird).
6. I am not actually a fan of roosters either. One time, a boy named meanie Jim said that roosters can peck your head into a nub. And that is not pleasant, I tell you.
7. The name of my school is Clarence somebody or other Elementary School.
8. I usually take the stupid smelly bus to school.  Only some mornings I accidentally spill cereal down the front of me at breakfast. And then I accidentally dance with Teddy instead of changing clothes. And so I accidentally miss the bus. Then Mother has to drive me. She is not pleasant when that happens.
9. When I am scared in the dark, I grab my bestest stuffed animal named Philip Johnny Bob. And then both of us sing, "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" from the hit musical Annie.
10. My favorite fruits are fruit loops, cherry jello, grape Kool-aid, orange popsicles, strawberry shortcake, blueberry pancakes, and chocolate covered raisins.

From the Inside Flap

Remember when it was scary to go to school? 'Cause it was your first day and you didn't know anything. Meet Junie B. Jones, kindergartner. "She's so scared of the school bus and the meanies on it that when it's time to go home, she doesn't.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 059063903X
• ISBN 13: 9780590639033
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 71
• Illustrator: Denise Brunkus