Junie B., First Grade Cheater Pants

This week I was finishing up "The Couple Next Door," which I HIGHLY recommend.  So after finishing that book, I was in a slump on what to read next since I was so impressed with that book. Thankfully, I nanny for a 3rd-grade teacher who generously gathered up 20 of her favorite children's chapter books to give to me to read. So I decided to look in the bag and I grabbed the first one I saw. "Junie B., First Grader Cheater Pants." Unlike most elementary students in the early 00's, I never read Junie B Jones book. So I decided to sit down with a vanilla iced coffee and dive into this book. Junie B., First Grader Cheater Pants was written by Barbara Park and beautifully illustrated by Denise Brunkus, and I'm officially hooked on this series!

Junie, a first grader, seemed to march to the beat of her own drum. The book begins with her writing in her journal that she forgot to do her homework, and that it was all her dad's fault. The teachers pet of the class, May, was a know it all and frankly very annoying. She made it very clear to Junie that she got her homework done and she always did perfect one it. Meanwhile, May is doing an errand for the teacher Junie decided to take a peek at her homework and copies what she has down. Mr. Scary, the teacher, announced it was time for everyone to get out their homework. Their homework was to write what they did this weekend. So like you would expect, Junie got caught in the act when it was her turn and she did exactly what May did this weekend. Over the next few chapters, Junie went through the aftermath of her cheating experience. 

When I was reading the book I realized I should have started with the first of her series. I had many questions occurring while reading. Some were what Junie's personality was, she came off sassy yet very sure of herself. Also, does she have siblings? Does she like/dislike school? Does she always talk to her stuff animals? Many questions crossed my mind, and if I knew the answer to them I would have had a better understanding of the book. While reading these children's chapter book for our challenge I always have the thought on how it would connect to a classroom setting. This book had a huge lesson about cheating. Reading this to your students at the beginning on the year would reinforce the fact that cheating is 100% wrong and you will get in trouble. But it also teaches that it is still cheating even if a friend lets you copy them. I think this would be great for all elementary grades! I thought of many HOT questions that you could ask such as: What choices did Junie make to get in trouble? What would have happened if Junie did not get caught? How would you compare the personality of May and Junie? 

I love the way Barbara Park wrote. She truly captured the spirit of a first grader. I think it would be interesting to read more of her Junie B Jones books and also see if she writes any other books. Overall I would recommend this book to someone. I would also love to have this book in my future classroom so students can read it; it was easy to follow and captured my attention well. 

I hope everyone is having a great week!