About book Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny (2007)
SynopsisThe kids in Room 1 are invited to an easter egg hunt at Lucille's rich, expensive mansion! But Junie B. Jones must battle her classmate May and a bunny suit if she's going to win that playdate in Lucille's new heated indoor pool.ReviewThe Junie B. Jones series is very popular among young readers. As the spunky protagonist moves on to first grade, the popularity continues. What the book lacks in character development, it makes up for in silly situations and approachable language. Junie B. navigates a world that's familiar to children and has simple, straighforward relationships that are easy for a young reader to understand. The female main character could turn boys off of the series. This is unfortunate because it is a highly entertaining book that could encourage a child to want to read more.This book is a great item to help transition kids from picture books to chapter books. The text sticks mainly to simple words with which younger children would be familiar. More complicated words are and repeated in different forms in close proximity to each other. Common usage mistakes are made by the children in the book and corrected by other children. These techniques could help children expand their vocabulary. Overall, this is a good book for a young reader who wants to read for pleasure without realizing that s/he's learning.Critical Reviewshttp://www.curledupkids.com/dumbunny.htmThis review is a good personal review with an opinion from the target audience. While it is not from a well known published source, it does offer the parent a good idea of what to expect.Other established sources did not review this particular book in the series, although the other books well known and have many reviews. The series in general is well regarded and the reviews are short as it can be assumed that the target audience is already familiar with the series.Additional Bibiographic InformationPublished in 2007 by Random House Children's Books119 pages longEasy Reader chapter book
I have always been a fan of the Junie B. Jones series; I read them since I was an elementary school student because it was written in a language that was simple, and familiar to me. To this day, I think that's why it is valuable for children to read these books: they may not be literary works of genius, but they describe relationships and thoughts that kids can understand, and can also show how their ideas may not always be kind or logical when put into action. I also like how Junie B. continues to "fix" some of her misspellings, as I can see instances in which kids see their own mistakes in the words she has crossed out; it has something to gain in a mechanical sense. However, kids should read these books with the understanding that just because Junie B. says it, that doesn't make it grammatically correct ("bestest," for example). Anyway, as for this book in particular, I enjoyed the various cultures that are reference from Junie B.'s classmates when Lucille talks about her "religious Easter party," and how the cultures ultimately come to accept one another despite their differences. It is important in our increasingly diverse world to have young characters setting an example of acceptance for readers, and I think that this book offers that message, although in a subtle way. I also liked the fact that Junie B. learned a little bit about sacrifices; she let Sheldon win the Easter egg hunt, and although at the end of the book, she still was not sure if she was proud of herself for doing so, it is definitely a step in the right direction. In general, I liked this book because it sends a message that sometimes, you just need to keep things to yourself, including the mean nickname you have for someone, because when that situation is turned on you, it can be very hurtful.
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Book Information:The genre of this book is comedy and humor. The reading level is first and second grade.Summary:Junie B. Jones in invited to Lucille’s spring party and Junie B. is playing the Easter Bunny. There is a hidden golden egg that Junie B. finds and with that comes a prize of being able to swim in Lucille’s heated pool. But Junie B. decides to give her eggs, including the golden egg to Sheldon who likes Lucille because his eggs were taken by May. Instructional Information:Students could color Easter eggs and have their own Easter egg hunt or they could color paper Easter eggs and hide them around the room so then there is no mess with eggs. This would be more of an activity to do around Easter rather than a teaching idea. Contextual Information:The themes of this book are easter, friendship, and elementary school. This book is more geared toward females since the main character is a little girl. Also, I feel that girls would like this book because they can relate the things that Junie B. gets herself into. Since Junie B. is a white female race and ethnicity is addressed in this book.Park, B., & Brunkus, D. (2007). Junie B., first grader: Dumb bunny. New York: Random House.
—Kristen Carson
Junie B finally has another chance to go to her rich classmates house, who lives in a mansion and, she’s freaking out! There’s going to be lots of games, activities and best of all prizes! The Easter egg hunt is the supreme of the entire extravaganza and everyone wants to win. Tension runs high once the egg hunt begins because of the prize that everyone wants to win... A swim date with their rich classmate of course! However Junie finds herself in a sticky situation where her chances of finding the golden egg are hindered because of the bunny suite she has to wear. In the end she didn’t exactly win, but she had a great time, which is all that matters. What a plot right? Again, I think that this series does a great job at really embodying the life and experiences of a true first grade student. Between the simplistic language, but complexity of the problem solving, I think this book alone is great for both teaching lessons and learning to enjoy and challenge reading abilities and potential. I would designate this book to 2nd or 3rd graders and would have this as a reading option for language arts. Upon conclusion of the novel I would have the students write alternative endings to see how they could have best pictured the book ending, based on their own personal preferences. In doing so they would compose a compare and contrast essay that would exemplify their reasoning and rationale. Park, B., & Brunkus, D. (2007). Junie B., first grader: Dumb bunny. New York: Random House
—Jasmine
In this book, Junie B. Jones and her first grade classroom is invited to an Easter Egg hunt where she is deemed the actual Easter Bunny and wins the golden egg, but gives it to another classmate to spite the girl she does not care for. It works out because the classmate she gave the golden egg to was very happy and Junie B. felt good about it, too. This story is important because it shows that sometimes even though the right thing to do might not make you happy, you will be surprised at how good doing the right thing feels. This is important for my database because this teaches that lesson which is important for younger students to learn. Park, Barbara. (2009). Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny. Illustrated by Denise Brunkus. New York, NY. Random House Publishing.
—Jessica Lee
