Junie B. Jones Is A Party Animal (1997) - Plot & Excerpts
Summary:ttWritten by award-winning author Barbara Parks, this book, one of many encompassing the rambunctious, almost 6-year old protagonist Junie B. Jones narrows in specifically on this child’s unique personality, with emphasis that there is without a doubt, never a dull moment with her. After a brief introduction about herself, Junie brings us on her bus ride to school with her best friend Grace. When they arrive at school, they see another one of their mutual friends, Lucille. Both girls are well-aware that Lucille has a rich nanna, so wealthy that the rest of Lucille’s family lives under her nanna’s roof. Junie and Grace take it upon themselves to go introduce themselves to Lucille’s nanna, and their adorable personalities win her over. This results in Lucille’s nanna inviting them both to spend the night at her house with Lucille this Saturday. Junie especially, is beyond excited about this opportunity to go explore nanna’s rich house. Junie even finds the need to brag about her good fortune to her baby brother Ollie, shouting at him repeatedly, “I’m spendin’ the night, I’m spendin’ the night” (p.17). Before Junie departs on her anxiously awaited sleepover, her parents give her a set of rules, which range from no cheating at games to no head-butting. She agrees to follow them. tOnce the 3 girls are together at nanna’s, Lucille decides it’s only appropriate to give them a tour of the lavish house. There’s even a “fancy gold bathroom with a Jacuzzi” (p.36). However, Grace and Junie seem to have a hard time adjusting to some of the rules of the household, including that Lucille’s life-size stuffed animals are “just for show” (p.37). After playing dress up with some of nana’s old evening gowns, it’s time for dinner, and not the kind of dinner Junie is used to- there are sparkly glasses to drink from and a white tablecloth to avoid spilling on. Junie ends up turning dinner into a disaster, when she drops her sparkly glass shattering it into pieces, and dirties the tablecloth. Nanna declares Junie is, “a bit of a bull in a china shop,” (p.47) and sends the girls off the Lucille’s room while she cleans up the messes. Later that night, the girls defy bedtime by sneaking into a nearby guest room where they are overcome with a desire to bounce on the giant guest bed. There innocent leaping eventually escalades into a pillow fight, which ultimately leads to yet another catastrophe when the “plumpery pillows” rip, resulting in a “million bazillion” feathers exploding everywhere. When nanna enters the scene, the fun and games are over, and the girls must return to their beds. When breakfast time comes the following morning, Junie has about had enough of nanna’s house, and is even afraid to eat, because she’s afraid she’ll cause another unintentional disaster. She misses her nanna’s house and eating blueberry pancakes on plastic ware. When her mother arrives to pick her up, Junie is glad to see her, and when Junie requests a pit stop at nanna’s on the way home for some blueberry pancakes, even her mother can’t resist the idea. In the end, Junie comes to the realization that perhaps her regular nanna is “just perfect” after all, and that she is actually quite thankful for what she has, even if it isn’t a bedspread made out of silk and a vanity mirror like the movie stars use. Response:tThe character of Junie B. Jones would settle for nothing less than a rating of 5 stars, and I think that that is well deserved. Told from the perspective of an almost 6-year old, this book is truly spoken with a child’s innocence, and is also highly entertaining. Junie B. Jones has quite the boisterous personality for a kindergartener, and also makes readers laugh. For example, she refers to her friend Lucille’s nanna’s car as a “Cattle Act” (p.2) instead of its proper name of Cadillac, and in many portions of the text, Junie’s dialogue is completely capitalized, indicating her excitement and enthusiasm. She also speaks in a way that many young children her age do, including making some common grammar mistakes, like saying, “nanna speeded up her car,” instead of nanna sped up her car. This child-friendly language led me to connect her personality and her story to that of some of the little kids I babysit for. They all definitely have a wild, obnoxious side, but can also be sweet and gentle. All of the disasters Junie B. Jones causes during her stay at nanna’s, like breaking nanna’s fine china and ripping the fancy pillows are all instances I can definitely see the children I babysit for, or any child around Junie’s age for that matter, mistakenly making. Kids will be kids, and that means plenty of spills and accidents. I think this book also subtly addressed the issue of children living in different socioeconomic status. Junie B. Jones’ household did not have all of the assets of Lucille’s home. As a result, Junie had a hard time adjusting to the different rules that were implemented in Lucille’s home. For example, Junie probably does not have stuffed animals at her home that are “just for show,” and therefore she had no idea that all of the stuffed animals in Lucille’s room couldn’t be played with. Despite all of the trouble that Junie causes at the sleepover, it is in essence not her fault. As nanna put it, Junie was “a bull in a china shop,” and this had a direct correlation to the type of socioeconomic lifestyle Junie was accustomed to living in. In the end, I think this book sends out a powerful message to all of its readers: to be thankful for what you have, and to not envy your neighbor merely on the basis of materialism. I think this book embodied exceptional creativity and originally (TMY, 2010, p.9) while also expanding awareness regarding the act of being jealous of another. The grass is not always greener on the other side, and I think this point was emphasized throughout Junie’s sleepover she was so very anxious for in the beginning. Furthermore, this book was a delightful read, and I would certainly recommend this book or other books about Junie B. Jones to others, as I look forward to learning more about Junie myself in her related stories. Classroom Connection:tAs suggested by TheatreWorks USA, (http://www.akjt.org/documents/Junie_S...) a connective lesson to this story or any Junie B. Jones book for that matter is to have students exercise and practice their language arts and parts of speech knowledge by creating their own Junie B. Jones story, sort of along the lines of the “Mad Libs” concept. On the website, there is a template where students first complete various blanks requiring certain parts of speech. (i.e. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs). During this part of the lesson, students are incorporating their creativity and also reviewing what types of words fit each type of speech category. In part 2 of the lessons, students get to see their ideas come to life as they fill in the blanks in the skeleton Junie B. Jones story template. I think this would be an interesting way for students to practice grammar and also connect to the character of Junie B. Jones while adding their own personal twist. On another note, there is another lesson on the website that addresses Junie’s sometimes incorrect use of grammar. There is a worksheet that asks students to look at the various statements that Junie has made and correcting them to make them grammatically correct. I also thought this was a good lesson, and since the students can relate to the way the character of Junie speaks in her story, I think it adds a little excitement to a typical “correct the sentences” worksheet that so many teachers overly distribute and use as busy work. Text Complexity: According to scholastic.com, the GLE for this book is 2.3 and its intended interest level is grade 3. Its guided reading level is M and its lexile measure is 380. With a guided reading level of M, I would deem this book to be appropriate for students to be able to read independently by the end of second grade/the beginning of third grade. The context is not hard for a young reader to understand, and the language is simple and child-friendly. I also like that its easy to read despite being a chapter book. This book would be good for those students who are crossing the bridge from a beginning reader to a more complex reader. There does exist a few pictures to help the reader visualize what events are taking place, which I think further assists in supporting the reader comprehend and make connections. Furthermore, this book would be acceptable to be read independently by readers in its intended interest range.
This particular book in the series is about Junie B. and her friends Grace and Lucille having a sleepover at Lucille's nanna's house. This was a new experience for Junie B. It was a "rich" people house and everything in it was very expensive. Junie B. wasn't allowed to play with the huge stuffed animals or sit on the silk bedspread because they were "just for show." Lucille's nanna let them eat from her expensive China, which was not the best idea. Junie B. kept breaking the expensive China and getting food on the expensive tablecloth. After breaking lots of things and getting in trouble for doing things that she usually doesn't get in trouble for, Junie B. decided that the rich life was not for her. She enjoys all the cheap toys she gets to play with and eating from plastic plates with her "regular" nanna.I enjoy the dialect used in this book. It felt as if Junie B. wrote the book herself. The voice and personality shows through and can be felt through the words. An example of this is when Junie B. talks about the car that Lucille's nanna drove. She says, "It is called a Cattle Act, I think." As an adult reading this, we are able to understand that she meant Cadillac. Little things like this make this book enjoyable to read for even older kids who would understand the hidden humor.I personally did not like the character of Lucille in this story. I know it's a children's book and dramatized, but I felt that it was inappropriate for the age group this book is intended for. I also know that there are spoiled and conceded children like this in real life, but it was glorified in this story. I'm a huge fan of humble characters, even if they have everything that they want. This is why I gave it four out of five stars instead of five out of five. I would have liked to see Lucille come around in the end and have a change of character, but that didn't happen.
What do You think about Junie B. Jones Is A Party Animal (1997)?
“Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal” is the tenth book in the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park. This book follows Junie B. as she attends her first sleepover with her best friends at Lucille's "Richie Nana's" house. Hilarity ensues as Junie B. tries to adapt in an unfamiliar environment where everything is too expensive to touch, and they dine with expensive china dishes. Junie learns to be grateful for the family and possessions that she has, as she realizes that Lucille's luxurious lifestyle is not as fulfilling as it seems. I would have this book and many more from this series in my classroom library. It could be used during independent reading time, or read during a book club. Junie B. Jones is not necessarily the best book to use for guided reading groups or other instructional purposes. However, they are great for getting students interested in reading. They are fun, hilarious, and easy to read books for students. I would like to have a discussion with any students reading Junie B. Jones about the underlying themes of the book. The majority of them have themes of family, friends, and growing up. Students can take what they learn about those themes, and apply it to their everyday lives. I would encourage students to read multiple Junie B. Jones books besides this one, and have discussions about which ones they enjoyed/related to the most.
—Hillary Emory
This book is about a girl thta her name is junie and she has a friend that her name is lucille and she had a nanna and junie thought she was rich.Junie and grace wanted to go to lucille house for a sleep over on saturday,but Lucille diren't know.Junie was exidet because she has never go to a sleepover.But when she goes to the house of the rich nana she was sad because they were putting alot of rules.I like this book because is a book for kids ,i have a long time that i havent read this book.I read this book when i was on 3 grade.READ THIS BOOK!!! >>Is pretty good
—Katherine Lima
I chose this Junie B. Jones book at random. It is the tenth in the series. Junie B. Jones is a first grader who has a number of adventures. I think she is a bit on the bratty side. The books are easy first chapter books for young fluent readers. In Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal, Junie B. and her friend Grace are invited to a slumber party by their friend Lucille. The slumber party is at Junie B.'s friend Lucille, who comes from a very wealthy family. She lives with her grandmother (Nanna), in a well appointed home. Nanna's home really isn't meant to host six-year-olds at a slumber party. Junie B. accidentally breaks a crystal drinking glass, stains a fine linen tablecloth and tears apart a Swedish handmade down pillow. Lucille's Nanna tries somewhat gracefully to deal with the situation. While Junie B. was excited to go to such a wonderful house, in the end, she learns the lesson of Dorothy Gale--"there's no place like home."The book could be read aloud to younger students, a chapter at a time, more than likely at the end of the day, or another transition time. Discussions about behavior would accompany the reading. Questions could include: Is Lucille nice when she sings the song? Did Junie B. mean to break the glass? How do you think Junie B. felt after the accidents occurred? Is Nanna being fair/nice to Junie B. after the accidents occur? Could Junie B. behave herself a little better? Do you think you would bounce on the bed? Are the accidents Junie B.'s fault, or did other people have something to do with them?
—Jeanne O'Hara
