Get ready for an indefinite wave of nostalgia. Summer had me reorganizing my bookshelves, which meant unavoidably fawning over book series from my childhood. If you’re give or take a few years older or younger than me, or if you’re a dedicated elementary school teacher, there’s a chance you enjoyed reading Junie B. Jones. Alongside afterschool ice cream trucks, Spongebob and various other nineties kids’ memories, we have Junie B. Jones speaking in the back of our heads: the story of a kindergartener.
My sister liked the Junie B. Jones more than me, and by the way, the B stands for Beatrice, but she doesn’t like Beatrice. Anyhow, this resulted in the safeguarding of nearly every copy of the kindergarten series, and a few keepers from the first grade edition (yes Junie B. Jones extended to first grade). This morning I randomly picked out a few copies and laughed at the titles, Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth, Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake, and Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine. Distant memories wafted by as I read each title: my indubitable agreement that Valentines at the time were code for cooties, that I also would never eat a fruitcake, and that my big mouth often got me into trouble at that age. This is all kid stuff right? So I go further on to open a book (Junie B. Jones is Captain Field Day) and I am impressed at Barbara Park’s writing style. Besides using phrases like “I runned” instead of “I ran” to express the accuracy of a kindergartner’s first-person perspective, how did she manage to encapsulate our childhood from such an eagle’s eye view? In simpler words, how did an adult write like a child?
Upon reading an interview with Barbara Park in attempts at answering these questions, I learned a lot more than I expected to. Who knew I would be thinking about Junie B. Jones past first grade? When I read one of the chapter books this afternoon, it took me less than twenty minutes to get through the whole thing. In the span of those twenty minutes, I could not stop my brain from sending me alert signals for every evident grammatical error in Junie B. Jones’s narration. She did not have her verb tenses down, and yet this was excusable because essentially there is no other way to properly represent a five year old’s perspective. I also noticed how opinionated Junie B. Jones is. It leads you in one of two directions: annoyance at the stubbornness of this child, or adoration for the firmness she has in her beliefs. Barbara Park will explain that writing in the perspective of a young child leaves little room for gray, everything is black and white. When interviewers then asked if she would continue Junie B. Jones to an age where there is no longer black and white, she explained why she could not. Park did not want to ruin who Junie B. Jones was in that phase of her life: the introduction to school, losing a tooth, and all the experiences that so uniquely belong to a five or six year old. This is why the series never reaches second grade. We all grow, and Junie B. Jones is left in our childhood.
Upon rereading a book from the series, I wondered what I found so appealing about her story as a child. A friend of mine said, “My teacher recommended it, and plus there was a tiny girl on the front cover, so I could relate.” Barbara Park also enlightens us with her observations, that two-thirds of the Junie B. Jones readers ranged from kindergarten to second grade girls.
When I went through the book, I noted three other aspects that I could probably relate to when I was in elementary school. The first was Meanie Jim. I remember this character without having to pick up the books. He is the constant source of cooties, and yet there is some sort of awe that Junie B. Jones has for him. BOYS. Meanie Jim represented my perspective of boys at such a young age.
There were also her “two bestest friends Lucille and Grace”. Notice how "bestest" isn't a word, and how most of us used it at a young age anyway. This is the most common phrase Junie B. uses to represent her friends, who are her life. This is the age when kids first begin developing lifelong relationships with peers right? It’s when they finally have an adequate amount of language, and an opportunity (school), to do so. We all relate to the beginning of a friendship, because that cycle repeats continuously throughout our lives. The love for newly-encountered company along with the disconnects are all found in her novels.
If anything, Barbara Park knows how to relate to a five year old. But in doing this, she doesn’t lose touch with the adult perspective either. The portrayal of relationships with adults is written so artfully. Junie B. Jones, mischievous at heart, experiences many disconnects with authority figures, whether it is her teacher or her parents. Adults in her life seem to be slightly annoyed and simultaneously pushing to be patient and it's all justified. The big difference, however, is that we are reading the whole story from a child’s perspective. The child who recognizes when she is in trouble, even though in her mind, the actions that led her up to the consequences are all justified. Reading it in first grade allowed me to side with Junie B. Jones, and reading it now is like filling in a puzzle piece. I finally understand why Mrs. (her teacher) was such a distant character for me. The adults are less relatable until you are an adult reading the series. Well, I just addressed myself as an adult in writing. That makes it real right? (If you want to escape it, pick up a copy of Junie B. Jones)
To read the full interview with Barbara Park: http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599...
