Customer Reviews
Bad Influence on Young Daughter 
2008-05-13
I've been reading these books with my 4-year-old for the last month. I'm really disturbed by the name calling in the book and the overall bad behavior by Junie B. Jones. The author also assumes that children are stupid. Especially in the book "Monkey Business" when Junie B. Jones thinks her mother has given birth to a baby monkey because the grandma describes the newborn as cute as a monkey. Come on! My 4-year-old knows that a statement like that is just an expression and that humans don't give birth to monkeys. And I'm also disturbed by the bad grammar used throughout the book. My daughter keeps asking me why Junie B. Jones is using the wrong words. I also have to keep reminding her that we don't call people "stupid" and "dumb," which the main characters seems to do quite often.
High Poverty School where reading is not a #1 Priority 
2008-04-16
For the past 8 years I haved been trying to find a way to get my students excited about reading and want to sit and read a book. When I was little I couldn't wait for the weekend when I went to the bookstore and got a new chapter book to read. I think I read at least 2 a week from Ramona books, to Babysitter's Club, and the entire Sewwt Valley series. When I started my career it was upsetting to me that almost all of my students had few to none books in their home. There was no enthusiasm. Until I started introducing them to Junie B. Now they argue over who will take each one home next. It gets my higher readers wanting more and my lower readers wanting to practice so they can get better at reading them faster. I use them for read alouds, DEAR time and take home books as well. They borrow my books but it also helps them to be responsible because they are books that they treasure! YES her grammar is horrible and she is not the perfect angel student. But"real" children can relate and they understand her.
Love Junie B. 2008-03-25
I love this series. Its cute, its funny and it shows the world from a young kid's perspective, including the bad grammer. While teachers may complain about the inaccurate grammer, not all reading needs to teach sight words or 1st grade level vocabulary. Sometimes we read for fun.
I think these books resonate with kids exactly because everything about Junie B is imperfect just like they are.
Good book 2008-03-11
I never wrote a review, but decided to do it now. My daughter (4.5 years old, just got into these books).
English is not my native language, but it is one for my daughter.
I don't have any problems with bad grammar or "wrong message" in those books. Unless this is the only source of English language for your child, I doubt that there could be bad impact on the grammar skills. For example, my English grammar or pronunciation are not very good- it does not mean my daughter uses wrong grammar or speaks with my accent.
Similarly, if this book is the only source of the behaviour example for your child (which is doubtful) then poor your child.
The girl in this book is genuine and nice, even though she uses "cencored" by some parents words and sometimes is not very "appropriate". Most of her mischiefs are harmless and are results of her overall cute clumsiness. I can see how this book can appeal to a normal child whith all those fears he/she faces entering complex school environment.
Books are funny and entertaining both for parents and kids.
I understand parents' desire to raise perfect kids with perfect manners and perfect language skills. In this case they have to set examples themselves. And if they do this properly they should not be afraid that some book will throw their child off course.
mistakes beget mistakes 2008-03-08
I met these Junie B. Jones books through tutoring elementary school students whose primary languages are not English, and I cannot think of a better way to mis-teach the English language. When a book is presented to a young learner the child assumes as she/he has every right to do, that these books are worthy. The Junie B. Jones books however, are filled with serious grammatical errors, punctuation misuse, wrong spellings and slang. Sentence fragments abound in astonishing quantities on every page, confusion in the correct use of parts of speech shows up repeatedly, mixing objects and subjects occurs again and again, and (less commonly,) misspellings pop up. Stylistically also, the writing presents a poor example for young students to follow. A large proportion of the sentences commence with 'And', while the majority of paragraphs contain no more than one sentence each. The writing is choppy in a misguided effort to simplify the language, but the result of having sentence fragment after sentence fragment ends up confusing meaning. Do not use these books for children whose primary language is not English. Do not use them if you want your students of any origin to learn how to write well and read well-crafted prose. The presentation of a book to a child is a serious matter, for as you do it, the child assumes you are presenting something good, of which you and the school approve. They believe that they can safely emulate the kind of writing they read there. Excellent books throng in the market which commit none of the grammatical offenses of the Junie B. Jones books, and yet are funny and light-hearted, with delightful characters. To address a previous reviewer's concerns, I personally do not like the example Junie B. sets in her selfish, rude and cruel behaviours, but it is the murder of the English tongue that I cannot bear. Books of this low standard are why neither Johnnie nor Junie can write.
I am ambivalent about the whole series 
2008-07-08
I am a bit ambivalent about this series. On the one hand I completely disagree with those reviewers that complain that this book sets bad behavioral standards. Common! If your child needs to be reminded that we do not punch friends that call us names, you are in trouble. Don't blame the book. This is something we covered early in preschool. But we all feel like doing this from time to time. So, it is easy to identify with Junie B. and laugh about her and with her. Some moral lessons of the series are neat. I liked the one about Job Day, where all kids wanted to be somebody "rich and famous", while Junie B. decided to become a janitor, because janitors save people and paint and unlock things.
However, I am somewhat concerned about the language. The language used in this book is persistently grammatically incorrect (e. g. "bited","it was very too big", "worser", "I quick run...", and worst of all "Me and my friend.."). The intention is to make Junie B. sound like a real kid, but I think Ms. Park is overdoing it a bit. In any case, i am sure that if your child reads just a few of these books it will not ruin their grammar, but if they get really hooked up on them and read the entire series, some language damage control might become necessary. In any case, my daughter seems to filter all this wrong language, and reads the words as they should be and not the way they appear...
I just wish there was a series out there, that would have nice real life stories, funny and not preachy, written in a good grammatical language.
I just don't care for Junie B. Jones books 2008-07-02
I have purchased several of these books for my daughter to read, hoping that somehow they might get better. They don't. I am not literary scholar but, Junie B. Jones does not talk like any 1st grader I know. I can't stand to read the books because of the stupid way this character talks. She talks more like a toddler. When my child reads, I want her to expand her vocabulary, not move backwards. I agree with the other one star reviewers. I would check one out of the library first to see if you like it, before you buy one of these books.
Poor Grammar is Fun--shameful 2008-06-12
If you want your child to learn poor English then the Junie B. Jones series is for you.
Questionable words for kids. 2008-06-10
These stories are o.k. with fairly cute ideas, but what concerns me are some of the words. Stupid, dumb, hate, and big fat smelly are used over and over, which I know aren't swear words or anything, but words I don't really want my kids to say\read. When reading, I leave them out, but I won't be buying anymore Junie B Jones for my kids.
There's little enough joy in the world.... 2008-05-26
I'll take a child's belly laugh any way I can get it. My kids (7 and 9) absolutely fall about when we read Junie B. together, and they clearly understand that she is being outrageous. That is WHY it's funny. Who wants to read about a little goody two shoes? I think it's strange that reviewers are huffing about saying it's poorly written. A writer who can bring a character that vividly to life, who can come up with lines that the whole family ends up quoting repeatedly, is by definition a great writer. People who love language play with it, and most people don't speak perfectly. Rich dialogue reflects that and catches the way people talk.
Wonder if all the complainers on here would like to take a pencil and correct Huck Finn's grammar? Huck and Tom weren't too well-behaved either, come to think. Do you think Mark Twain was a poor writer? I laugh out loud at his books, too.
The funniest thing of all on here are the grammatical errors and the pompous, stilted syntax in the posts of people who are just diabolically scathing about the grammar and the writing in Junie B. I especially love the review by the "professional writer by trade." No one who doesn't understand what's wrong with that description has the right to even raise an eyebrow at Junie B.
