Junie B. Jones and That Meanie Jim's Birthday

Kindergarten hellion Junie B. Jones has met her match: That Meanie Jim, a classmate in Room 9 who gives even better than he gets. Junie B. is right that he’s mean; he’s also more astute and more rude than she. They’ve been tussling through most of the books, and now Jim wants to have the ultimate revenge: invite all of his classmates except Junie B.

Junie B. frets at the snub and spends the book trying to figure out how to save face. Move to the Small World ride at Disneyland? Host a competing birthday party even though her real birthday is months away? Steal someone else’s invitation?

I’ve really loved the books so far, but I’m beginning to tire of Junie B. Yes, she learns her lessons in each book, but she returns in the show more next as stubborn and manipulative as ever. It’s been a great ride so far, but I think I’ll be moving on. I didn’t even finish this book. show less

I personally love all the Junie B. Jones books in Barbara Parks’ series. However, I immediately grabbed, “Junie B. Jones and that Meanie Jim’s Birthday” to read for my reading log. I remember loving this book as an elementary school student and my feelings for it have not changed, even though I am 20 years old. I love this book for a multitude of reasons. First, I absolutely love the character of Junie B. Jones. She is incredibly realistic in the way that she acts and talks and all the ridiculous, but relatable, situations she gets herself into. Junie B. is not a perfect character and often makes mistakes, but that’s what makes her so loveable and relevant. Secondly, I love the dialogue in the book. The way Parks writes is show more hilariously real and insightful all at the same time. The interactions Junie B. Jones has with her parents, grandparents, teachers, and classmates are all so well written and natural. In “Junie B. Jones and that Meanie Jim’s Birthday” Junie B. lands herself into a predicament by getting into an argument with her nemesis Jim, which results in her being the only kid in her class to not receive an invitation to his birthday party. This sets into motion Junie B. scheming her way into being invited to Jim’s birthday in order not to feel left out. When she finally gets an invitation, she realizes (with the help of her mother and father) that she doesn’t want to waste her Saturday spending time with a boy who is mean to her. Junie B. comes to understand that she should spend her time how she wants to spend it, not how she thinks she should spend it out of fear of being the only one doing it. This leads me to discuss the big idea of, “Junie B. Jones and that Meanie Jim’s Birthday.” All throughout the book Junie B. wants an invitation to Jim’s birthday so she doesn’t have to be the only one in her class not at the party. However, when Junie B. finally receives an invitation and the day of the party comes she suddenly feels hesitant about going and realizes that Jim’s party is “ruining her Saturday.” When Junie B. shares her feelings with her parents she also says that she will be the only one in her class not going and that will be the “saddest story she’s ever heard of.” Her father responds to her by saying, “Why is it sad to spend your Saturday the way you want to spend it? Why is it sad to spend the day having fun, instead of wasting it on a boy you don’t even like? Her mother than goes on to tell her all the good things that being the only one not going to Jim’s party entails, like being the only kid who doesn’t have to take a bath. The big idea of “Junie B. Jones and that Meanie Jim’s Birthday” is to encourage kids to be themselves and do things that they want to do, even if it means standing alone or stepping away from their friends for a little. Junie B. Jones will grow up to be a much better person for staying true to herself even if it means being the only one sometimes. show less

Barbara Park does a fantastic job portraying the life of a kindergartner through Junie B. Jones' character. She makes the story relatable to events that occur in a young child's life. Examples are getting up and going to school, riding the bus, interacting with peers inside and outside the classroom, dealing with younger siblings at home, and interacting with the family like parents and grandparents.

The chapters have interesting titles which I think keeps the reader engaged. The chapters are not too long which is also beneficial to the reader because they can become bored or confused if the chapters are super long. The illustrations are also good to have in this chapter book because readers are able to visualize what Junie B. is doing show more in the chapter and I think that is important to help them follow along with the reading.

The text is not very complex which is good for an intermediate book. There is a lot of dialogue which I think is good because the book might be as interesting to some students if it was just Junie B. talking the whole time. It is also good practice for readers to follow along with the conversation and be able to know who is speaking on that specific page. There are sometimes where Junie B. uses the incorrect tenses but I think that makes the story more relatable to younger readers because that is how they speak or pronounce some words. However, as a teacher or parent, you do not want your young reader to pick up on those types of words because they are incorrect.

The main idea of this text is to not be afraid to be who you want to be. Junie B. desperately wants to go to this birthday party because everyone else is going, but once the day of the party comes around she really does not want to go. She wanted to do fun things with her grandfather instead of being like everyone else and go spend the day at the party. She realized it is okay to do what she wanted to do and not be like everyone else. show less

I had a fun time reading this Junie B. Jones book. The main point of this story is to share how Junie B. Jones deals with not being invited to a birthday party. I love the character development of Junie B. Jones. She is a spunky and silly Kindergartener who represents the mindset and personality of other Kindergarteners so well. This helps readers feel that Junie B. Jones is one of them. I thought that the author did a great job in sharing the message, “It is okay to be left out.” The author made Junie B. Jones realize naturally herself that although she did not want to be the only one that was different, in the end, it was doing what she wanted to do that made her the happiest. Part of the writing that I enjoyed seeing was when show more Junie B. Jones would say her repetitive catchphrase. “Yeah, only...” I knew that whenever those words came up, a hilarious statement was coming from Junie B. Jones. For comedic fun and a resource of teaching morals, I will turn to the Junie B. Jones series. show less

I really liked this book, along with every other Junie B. Jones book. I love how clever Junie B. Jones is, and how she always seems to find trouble. For example, "Me too," I said. "Now I can't eat the rest of my cake, too. And so I will throw both our cakes in the trash can for us." I looked all around me very careful. Then I quick ducked behind the trash can. And I stuffed both those cakes right in my mouth. I like how these beginner chapter books include pictures. Sometimes a lot of words can intimidate a reader, but in you flip through and see pictures, you may feel better about reading it. I also think that the pictures could be a great way to activate background knowledge before reading the book. I like this book because of the show more language, and how you feel like the things that Junie B. Jones says really reflect a kindergarten student. It allowed me to see the point of view of a kindergarten, especially since Junie B. is so open and honest about everything. For example, "JUNIE B. JONES!" shouted Mrs. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" "I am turning around his fatty head," I explained." The central message of this book is that two wrongs do not make a right. Even though Jim did not invite Junie B. to his party, she learns that not inviting him to her party does make her as happy as she thought it would. show less

I enjoyed this book because it was the epitome of my childhood. Although I never went to the extent of Junie B. Jones of getting herself uninvited to a party, but I would always want to feel included at birthday parties and eat the cake and sweets. When it came time to buying presents for my friends, I wanted to keep them just like she wanted to keep the tool belt. Therefore being able to connect with the plot made it enjoyable to me as a reader. I think the message of this book is to teach kids a lesson about other children’s birthdays and how to be respectful of them and not selfish.

The language used in this book was very funny and age appropriate. The author does not use regular grammar, she writes as if a young child was actually speaking. The plot was engaging and I laughed my through the whole book. This specific book shows how Junie B. Jones is very competitive and bossy, which I feel a lot of young students struggle with. The main messages of the book are acceptance and friendship.