''Junie B. Jones'' is a children's book series written by

Barbara Park Barbara Lynne Park (formerly Tidswell; April 21, 1947 – November 15, 2013) was an American author of children's books. Life and career Barbara Park was the daughter of a merchant and a secretary, Doris and Brooke Tidswell. She and her older br ...

and illustrated by

Denise Brunkus Denise Brunkus is an American illustrator of children's picture books. She has illustrated more than 60 books, including the Junie Beatrice Jones series and ''Read All About It!'' by Laura and Jenna Bush. Early works * ''The Case of the Wand ...

. Published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

from 1992 to 2013, the story centers on "almost six-year-old" Junie B. Jones and her adventures in kindergarten and first grade.

Books

Since the original book was published by

in 1992, a total of 31 ''Junie B. Jones'' books have been published. 28 are stories that take place in the ''Junie B. Jones'' series, and three are activity books entitled ''Junie B.'s Essential Survival Guide'', ''Top-Secret Personal Beeswax: A Journal by Junie B. (and me!)'', and ''Junie B.'s These Puzzles Hurt My Brain! Book''. Several box sets, multiple book bind-ups, and a

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

card collection have also been released. The series has been translated into Spanish, Italian and French.

Reception

The ''Junie B. Jones'' series came in at #71 on the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

's list of the Top 100 Banned or Challenged Books from 2000 to 2009. Reasons cited are "poor social values taught by the books, and Junie B. Jones not being considered a good role model due to her mouthiness, bad spelling, and grammar." While Barbara Park appreciated being on banned lists with writers she respected (including

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

and

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...

), she stopped reading information about her books because the comments were "too hurtful." She once wrote "Some people believe that the value of a children's book can be measured only in terms of the moral lessons it tries to impose or the perfect role models it offers. Personally, I happen to think that a book is of extraordinary value if it gives the reader nothing more than a smile or two. In fact, I happen to think that's huge."

Adaptations

Theatrical plays

* ''Junie B. Jones the Musical'', theatrical adaptation by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich,

Theatreworks USA TheatreWorksUSA is a professional, not-for-profit theatre for young and family audiences founded in 1961. The company is based out of New York City, but has touring productions that run through forty-nine states as well as parts of Canada. Pl ...

* ''Junie B. Jones the Musical JR'', adaptation of Junie B. Jones the Musical intended to be performed by young actors * ''Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business'', theatrical adaptation by Joan Cushing * ''Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus Tour'', Random House, tour by Momentum Worldwide * 2008 Tour - Caitlin Thurnauer as Junie B. Jones, Jay Paranada as Mr. Woo; tour managed by Michael Barth * ''Junie B. Jones: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells'', theatrical adaptation by Allison Gregory; music composed by Rob Witmer * ''Junie B. Jones: First Grader: Shipwrecked'', theatrical adaptation by Allison Gregory * ''Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business'', theatrical adaptation performed at B Street Theatre

Video games

* ''Junie B. Jones Top-Secret Personal Beeswax'' educational video game for the

LeapFrog Leapfrog is a children's game in which players vault over each other's stooped backs. History Games of this sort have been called by this name since at least the late sixteenth century.Leapster The Leapster Learning Game System is an educational handheld game console aimed at 5 to 10-11 year olds (preschool to fourth grade), made by LeapFrog Enterprises. Its games teach the alphabet, phonics, basic math ( addition, subtraction, mul ...

learning system

Film

When asked about the topic of a feature-length film adaptation based on the books, Barbara Park stated in an interview that "Junie B. has been pretty successful already living in the readers' imaginations, so I am happy with that."

Television

On June 14, 2022, it was announced that

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

is developing an adaptation of the books.

References

External links

''Junie B. Jones'' - Random House website

Author Barbara Park - Random House website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Junie B. Literary characters introduced in 1992 Characters in American novels of the 20th century Characters in American novels of the 21st century Series of children's books Slapstick comedy First-person narrative novels Female characters in literature