Author: Barbara Park
Illustrator: Denise Brunkus
Genre: Chapter Book
Subgenre: Young Adolescent Chapter Book, Fiction
Theme: Halloween, Dressing Up, Being Scared
Primary/Secondary Characters: Junie B. Jones, Mother, Daddy, Ollie, Grandma & Grandpa Miller
Date of Publication: Year 2004
Publishing Company: Scholastic Inc.
Summary: Junie B. Jones is afraid of Halloween and all the costumes that children will wear that night. She does not want to dress up and just wants to stay home all night and play by herself. One of her classmates told her five scary secrets about Halloween, and told Junie B. that if she told those secrets, her head would turn into a giant wart. Junie B. finally tells her Grandma Miller those secrets, and got reassurance that they were not true. Junie B. got the great idea to be Squirty the clown, so she could scare the other kids on Halloween and they could not scare her. She went costume shopping with her mother and found clown parts to make her costume. Halloween night Junie B. named herself "Screamy the Clown" and tried to scare all of the kids around the block, but nobody was afraid of her. That night, she went home upset and went straight to bed, as she had not scared a single soul. Her father had been on a business trip and came home to Junie B.'s dark room and saw her with all her makeup on in the dark, and she scared him "right out of his pants." Junie B. accomplished her mission, and had a great Halloween after all.
This would be useful in the classroom in the fall, right before Halloween. It ensures students that there is nothing to be afraid of, as costumes are just fake and supposed to be fun. It gets children in the Halloween spirit as it talks about the costumes, candy, and fun. As Junie B. talks back to her mother and to adults in her life, she is quickly corrected. This could be useful to children as well, as they learn not to talk back and listen to their elders.
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