Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook

I really enjoyed the book “Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook” for many reasons. The first reason is because of how silly and relatable the main character, Junie B., is to the average child, girl or boy. For instance, she uses fun and familiar phrases like, “finders keepers, losers weepers” and Barbara Park gives her the voice of a young child. Children love when Junie B. misuses phrases, or takes things too literally. In addition, the plot line, finding something that you really like and deciding whether to keep it or turn it in, takes a serious moral dilemma and puts it in terms that kids would understand. Junie B., at first, thinks that she should be able to keep a pen that she found since she thinks someone took her favorite show more mittens. But then, after talking to her grandpa, her teacher, and the principal, she decides that that would not be fair to whoever lost the pen, because she knows how upset she was that her mittens were lost. This puts a very common, and fairly sophisticated dilemma, in terms that young children can understand and relate to. Barabara Park’s style of writing is so exciting and fun that students across a wide age range can enjoy her books. Reading this book reminded me of my first grade teacher who read Junie B. Jones to us every single day before we went home. I absolutely loved all of the books and owned almost every one out of the series! The main idea of the book is that two wrongs does not make a right, and you should not keep something that does not belong to you. show less

Wonderful series! But, this is one of my personal favorites. The story revolves around the saying "finders keepers, losers sweepers". When Junie loses her favorite mittens and they are not returned, when she finds something she does not know whether to keep them or not. She contemplates whether or not it is fair for her to keep something she found when someone else did the same thing. Helps tackle right versus wrong and what to do when you find something that is not yours. Great lesson for any child.

I might have enjoyed this when I was younger (except I don't remember reading these when I was younger, even though they were available...), but this little chit got on my last nerve. So, the lesson in here is good: don't take what isn't yours. It tells kids that something might be important to another person, so they shouldn't take it for themselves if it doesn't belong to them.

I thought the intentional grammatical and spelling errors were an interesting choice. It certainly adds to the characterization, but I think it could also confuse some kids who already struggle in those areas.

Junie B. Jones is not a crook is my all-time favorite book! I truly love this book! I love this book for Junie’s personality. It is not often that you read a book and the personality of the main character spills off the pages. Her opening statement to all her books is the first instance of her personality that all readers feel and will have readers hooked. Another reason I like this book is plot. Junie B. steals somebody’s glove because she lost her pen and it was never returned to the lost and found Although, we know taken something that is not yours is wrong, it was quite intriguing to see Junie go through the motions of the something that should not be done. This is what makes this book interesting because you are reading about show more something wrong, in a way. I also thought it was interesting that many realistic fiction books are not about doing the wrong thing. show less

I’ve always liked and enjoyed reading the Junie B Jones book series. I believe this is a great book and it teaches a wonderful lesson, but it has been brought to my attention that some parents and educators have issues with the way Junie talks using improper grammar. An example of this is when Junie B’s mittens are stolen she says, “Hey!! Somebody stoled my mittens!!” Parks is imitating the way kindergarteners actually speak, but is it teaching the reader to speak this way? On the other hand, Junie B Jones is such a lovable character. The way she struggled in this particular chapter book with an internal struggle whether to keep the pen she found or return it made her very relatable to readers. The central message in this book show more is to always do the right thing and never steal, as it will lead to positive outcomes. This was shown when Junie B goes to school to return the pen she found, she finds her precious mittens. She did the right thing by returning what was not rightfully hers, so now someone who lost that pen can go search for it in the lost and found. So despite the “kindergarten” talk, the message is something important that all kids need to learn. show less

The reason why I gave this book a four because I enjoyed reading it. Junie B Jones. is giving some mittens by her grandfather and she decides to wear them to school to show them off. Her mittens end up getting stolen, so she goes to check the lost and found. Her mittens are not in there. She finds a pen that writes in many different colors and decides that she wants to keep it because she think it is okay to keep it. She later finds the person that stole her mittens and she realized that it wasnt nice to take things that didnt belong to her, so she went and put the pen in the lost and found. I think this book is a good book to teach children about being honest and about telling the truth and that stealing is not a good thing to do. This show more book can be used in the classroom by showing students why we have a lost and found at school and it also show and teach the class there are times when we are forgetful or careless and loose things, but the lost an found can help us recover items. It alos teaches children that the saying finders keepers, loosers weepers is not a rule. The children can play a game in the classroom were we loose items and found them and put them in the lost and found box in the class. You can also talk about were the lost and found box is located in the school. show less

I had previously read Junie B. Jones books in elementary school, but I do not recall reading this particular book in the series. I really don't remember Junie B. being in kindergarten, so its nice to see things that I didn't realize or didn't remember. The contrast between reading this book in elementary school and now is very interesting. When I was younger, I was completely oblivious to the fact that there are so many errors in mechanics throughout the book; it read just fine to me. Now, i find it very hard for me to not read the novel in a 6 year olds voice. I find myself putting myself into the mindset of kindergarten Junie B. and it makes her hysterics much more funny. The novel also handles the situation of the lost and found very show more well. To a kid, losing something like a pair of mittens is a very big deal. Also, its very understandable that a child would think that taking whatever the see in a lost and found would be fair. The adults in the novel give very good reasoning on why it doesn't work that way. We get to hear Junie B.'s inner struggle on what she wants to do and whats the right thing to do. For young readers at this particular age, impressions from books go a long way. This book death with how to find things you lost or how to put lost things so their owners could find them. The novel also mentioned how even though you may like something that isn't yours, it doesn't make it right to keep it. Overall, I thought this novel was very cute and interesting to read. show less