Is it wrong of me to detest a fictional 5-year-old? This audiobook consisted of the first 8 books in the Junie B. Jones series, and if I could give them all a negative star review, I would. These books were awful; Junie B. Jones is awful. I was expecting to read about a quirky, funny little girl who gets into amusing scrapes, but instead I read about a selfish, thoughtless, mean bully. How are these books so popular? Do parents even know what's in them? They are chock-a-block full of "teachable moments" if you are reading them with your child, toxic if you are not.
In the first book, Junie B. hides out at school because she doesn't want to ride the bus home, and ends up calling 911 because she needs to go to the bathroom. Even though she has frightened her parents by going missing, and then called out the police and fire department for a minor problem, no one bothers to explain to her the trouble she's caused, or to make her accountable in some way for her actions. Whenever Junie B. does something bratty or objectionable, which is almost always, the adults in her life just look at the ceiling or roll their eyes in exasperation. Sometimes they get a little miffed, or gently try to correct her, but she just ignores them and they let her. She calls other people names like meanie, stupid, smelly, but if anyone calls her a name, she "gets a little wet in her eye" and we're supposed to feel sorry for her. She insists that everyone call her Junie B., not just Junie, but when her grandmother asks her not to call her "Helen", Junie B. just ignores her. What other people want or like is just not important. In one book, she practices extortion on her "bestest" friends Grace and Lucille, requiring them to give her various nice possessions of theirs so they can be the first to view her new brother, who she mistakenly thinks is a monkey. The story "Junie B. Jones and that Meanie Jim's Birthday," begins with JB flatly telling Jim that she would never go to one of his stupid birthday parties. Then, when he tells her he's having a party that weekend and isn't going to invite her, she gets really upset, because now she thinks she would enjoy going to a party, and she's going to be the only one not invited. Now, over the course of several books she has called this boy 'meanie Jim", "stupid Jim", "dumb, smelly Jim", etc., and has freely, openly, and repeatedly stated that she "hates" him. They do not like each other, they are not friends, and he is equally mean to her. So does anyone ask her why she would want to go to the party of someone she doesn't like? Do her parents mention that if you're going to be mean to people and call them names, maybe they won't like you, and you just might miss out on an invitation or two? No, she tries to steal someone else's invitation, lies about doing that, and is extremely bratty, mean, and unreasonable about the whole thing. The upshot is that eventually Jim has to apologize to her. What!!??!
I mean, I know she's only supposed to be 5, but 5-year-olds are capable of learning from their mistakes, and accepting that there are consequences to their behavior, provided those consequences are actually enforced. And I don't really care for preachy stories that serve up a heavy-handed "lesson". But I do like stories where people - including children - learn, grow, change, maybe exhibit some kindness or understanding. I tend to find that charming.
After listening to several of these stories, I started thinking that there must be a title in the series called "Junie B. Jones is a Sociopath Guy," because that's what she is (well, OK, it's called Conduct Disorder in anyone under the age of 18) Here's a brief description of a sociopath: "A sociopath can be defined as a person who has Antisocial Personality Disorder. This disorder is characterized by a disregard for the feelings of others, a lack of remorse or shame, manipulative behavior, unchecked egocentricity, and the ability to lie in order to achieve one's goals". And that just about sums up little Junie B. Jones.