Book Review: Junie B., First Grader (at last!)

 

 

Book: Junie B., First Grader (at last!)

Author: Barbara Parks

Illustrator: Denise Brunkus

Publisher: Random House

Publication date: 2001

Categories: 

Supports Diverse Protagonist

Early Chapter Book (with illustrations)

Lexile Score: 250L 

Target Audience: 1st-4th Grade

Age Range: 6-9 years old

Brief Summary

Junie B. Jones is starting a new school year and she is finally in First Grade. She has a new class and a new teacher and a bunch of new classmates. But then, Junie B. finds out that she might need glasses because she is struggling to see the board and it will be hard for her to learn if she can't read the board. Junie B. tries to convince her parents that she doesn't need glass but ends up getting them and all of her friends in class love the glasses that she wears. Now she can concentrate and the read the board without the fear of missing out on something.

Evaluation: 30/32

Illustration - 4

Storyline - 4

Appropriateness - 4

Problems/Resolutions - 4

Stereotyping - 3

Relatability -4

Readability/Cohesiveness - 4

Critical Thinking - 3

This book would be a helpful tool in the classroom when it comes to students who feel embarrassed because they can't see the board or they don't like the way their glasses look. A lot of students are scared to wear glasses because of what the other might think but this book can show these young readers that they have nothing to worry about and everyone will love their glasses. Some might even want glasses just because they think they look cool.

Literary Elements

1.Punctuation - The author uses many different forms of punctuation to insinuate the way one talks in the story. By using exclamation marks for excitement and ellipses to hold off on information, the reader is getting a full sense of the mood of the story at the time.

2. Sequence - The author creates uses sequential words such as first, then and next a lot and those would be helpful for any student who wants to be successful in writing. If I were to use this book to teach a lesson on using sequence of events, I could show the many examples and let the students see how the use of these terms allow for a better flow of reading. The students then can apply this new information to their own writing. 

3. Onomatopoeia - An example of a simile from the book is the use of "grr" to show anger a lot.