Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

Title: Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus
Author: Barbara Park
Number of Pages: 69
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Copyright Date: 1992
Grade Level: Primary – Intermediate (2-6)
Honors/Awards: None
Type of Book: Easy Reader

Synopsis:
Junie B. Jones is off to her first day of kindergarten, except there’s one problem: she doesn’t want to ride the bus. This book is the first in a large series of Junie B. Jones books. It begins with Junie B. meeting her teacher on “Meet the Teacher Day.” She can’t remember her teacher’s whole name, so she just calls her Mrs. At “Meet the Teacher Day,” Junie B. finds out that she will be riding the bus to school, which makes her a little bit scared, because she has never ridden on a bus before. Her mom tells her not to worry, but she worries anyways.
On the first day of school, Junie B. gets on the bus, but a girl wouldn’t let her sit next to her. She put her purse down on the seat and said that she was saving it for her friend. So Junie B. sits in a different seat. But a boy named Jim who was very grumpy sat next to her, and when Junie B. tried to unzip his backpack he yelled at her and moved to a different seat. As people started to pile on to the bus, it got loud and hot. Junie B. decided that she hated the bus.
In school, Mrs. Has the children write their names on name tags and draw pictures of their families. She also brings them on a tour of the school. She has to have a buddy, so she and a girl named Lucille hold hands. Lucille tells her that on the bus ride home, people pour chocolate milk on your head. On the tour, Junie B. learns about the nurse’s office and the principal’s office and the bathrooms (there are two – one for girls where no boys are allowed and one for boys where no girls are allowed). A boy named William has “an emergency” and goes into the boy’s bathroom.
When it is time to line up to get on the bus, Junie B. hides in the supply closet so that she won’t have to get on the bus. When she has hid in the closet for a while, she gets out and starts playing with the art supplies that Mrs. has. Then she decides to go to the Media Center, where she almost gets caught by the school janitor, or, as she calls him, “the man with the can.” So Junie B. looks for a better hiding place in the nurse’s office. Here she puts Band-Aids all over her body, pretends to make calls on the phone, and finally tries to use crutches that are too big for her. This makes her fall down and hit her head on the desk. She runs out of the nurse’s office into the cafeteria, where she realizes that she needs to go to the bathroom, so she runs to the girl’s room, but the door is locked. The boy’s room is locked too, and it’s an emergency! Then she remembers what her mom told her to do if there is ever an emergency – call 9-1-1.
Junie B. runs to the nurse’s office and dials 9-1-1. She tells the woman on the other line that it is an emergency and all the doors are locked, but when the woman keeps telling her to calm down, she hangs up the phone.
She runs outside, not knowing what else to do, and finds that an ambulance, a fire truck, and a police car had shown up at her school. The janitor comes running out and yelling for Junie B. to stop running, and when Junie B. tells him about her emergency, he brings her into the school and unlocks the door to the girl’s room. Mrs., Junie B.’s mom, and the principal come out and scold Junie B. for hiding and not getting on the bus. When Junie B. gets home, her mom tells her about a girl who will be riding the bus for the first time the next day, and she suggests that Junie B. sit next to her. Junie B. likes that idea, and decides that she will bring her purse to school and set it next to her on the bus to save a seat for her new friend, Grace.

Commentary:
All of the Junie B. Jones books are hilarious for those of us who are fluent readers and can understand the humor in her grammatical errors and the mind of a rambunctious kindergartener. I would hesitate to use this book with children who are just learning to read, or who are having trouble with grammar. The good thing, though, about using this book with very young children is that there are many opportunities for teaching moments. Discussions of respecting authority, being nice to other children, and using your inside voice may be a necessity with this book. Junie B. can be disrespectful at times, and she certainly doesn’t treat everyone in her class as a friend.

Teaching Ideas:

• Use passages from the book for children to correct as a grammar/writing assignment


• Junie B. noticed that the name “Lucille” sounds like a seal. Come up with what animal your name sounds like, and talk about spelling differences


• Make name tags on big circles, just like Junie B.’s class did


• Talk about safety, and the meaning of the word “emergency.” Emphasize when it is appropriate to call 9-1-1 and when it isn’t, especially since this is not directly addressed in the book


• Talk about safety in school and on the bus


• Have the children write about a time that something happened to them on the bus, and what they did to make the situation better


• Write thank-you notes to the school bus driver

Related Books:
Books by Barbara Park:
Junie B. Jones series
The Kid in the Red Jacket
Almost Starring Skinny-Bones
Mick Harte Was Here
Books with a School Bus:
The Magic School Bus series by Scholastic Books, Inc.
Miss Honey’s School Bus by Richard Scarry

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

The Boxcar Children

Title: The Boxcar Children

Author: Gertrude Chandler Warner

Number of Pages: 154

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company

Copyright Date: 1942

Grade Level: Intermediate Grades (3-6)

Honors/Awards: None

Type of Book: Chapter Book/Easy Reader

Summary:
Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are siblings who, when their parents passed away, decided that they didn't want to live with their grandfather. Insisting that he wouldn't like them because he didn't like their mother, they make a home for themselves in an abandoned boxcar. The children make this boxcar a home for themselves, taking silverware, a tea kettle, and cups from a junkyard. They build a dam in the stream, making a swimming pool, and make a fire pit so they can cook food and boil water to clean their dishes. Henry finds work at a doctor's house and the other children find a stray dog, who they name "Watch," because he becomes their watchdog.

One day while working for the doctor, Henry enters a race and wins. He doesn’t know it, but the man who gives him his prize is actually his grandfather, from whom he and his siblings have been hiding. Of course his grandfather doesn’t know that this is the boy that he has been frantically looking for.

One night the children hear a noise in the woods, and Watch starts to growl. We find out at the end of the book that the noise was the doctor coming to check on them. Henry enjoys his work with the doctor, and the girls and Benny enjoy making the boxcar a home. Henry makes enough money to buy some essential foods, such as milk and bread and meat. Once he even brought home butter! Benny tries to cut Watch’s hair like Jessie cut his and he writes a “J” on his side, representing that Watch belongs to Jessie. The children love the new life they made for themselves, until one day when Violet gets sick. They aren’t able to nurse her back to health, and afraid that they will be found out if they bring her to the hospital, Henry runs to get the doctor that he works for. Without asking where to go, the doctor drives to the boxcar and brings Violet and her siblings back to his home.

The doctor calls the children’s grandfather, who had sent a flyer out looking for his grandchildren. When he comes, the doctor insists that he get to know the children before telling them that he is their grandfather. After a few days of getting to know each other (and the children growing to like him), he reveals his identity. When Violet regains her health, they all move in with the doctor. Watch becomes their dog for good, as the man who owned him had sold him to another woman, and the woman says that they can keep him.
Commentary: A great book about children making it on their own. It’s every child’s dream when they think about running away from home. It would be a good idea to talk with the students about the fact that this is a fictional book, and in real life the children probably wouldn’t have had such an easy time trying to make it on their own. Talking about strangers may also be essential, as Henry walked up to a stranger and asked him if he could work for him. This story is one that most people in my generation have read, and it will continue to be a classic for ages. It is very well written, especially for a chapter book. It could be considered a novel, but I have listed it as a chapter book for its simple language, large font, and pictures.

Teaching Ideas:

• Talk about strangers, as Henry approached a stranger to ask for work


• Talk about the differences between life in the 1940’s (when this book was written) and today.


• Talk about how the story might be different if the children were running away from home today


• Have students write their own fictional story about making it on their own

Related Books:
Books by Gertrude Chandler Warner:
Blue Bay Mystery
The Boxcar Children Mysteries
Books about Orphans:
Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Books about Adventures:
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George*
The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson

Sarah, Plain and Tall

Title: Sarah, Plain and Tall
Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Number of Pages: 58
Publisher: The Trumpet Club
Copyright Date: 1985
Grade Level: Intermediate Grades (4-6)
Honors/Awards: Newbery Medal
Type of Book: Chapter Book/Multicultural

Synopsis:
Anna lives with her Papa, Jacob and her younger brother, Caleb on a farm. Her mother died when Caleb was born. Ever since she died, Papa didn't sing. Papa sends out for a wife, feeling that his children need a mother. The response that he gets back is from Sarah. Sarah has been living in Maine with her brother, but now that her brother is getting married, she feels it's time to move out. They set up a time when she can come to visit and see how she likes the farm. Her last letter before she arrives says, "Tell them I sing."
When Sarah arrives with her yellow bonnet and her cat, Anna and Caleb are overjoyed to see her and get to know her. Sarah tells them about the sea, and Anna and Caleb show her their sheep. Sarah brings them seashells, and Anna and Caleb help her pick wildflowers to dry in the winter. Sarah and the family sing together, and Papa sings too. The whole visit, Anna and Caleb wonder if she will marry Papa and stay with them or go back home to the sea she loves so dearly.
Sarah insists that Jacob teach her how to drive by herself, and Anna and Caleb are nervous about why she wants to go into town by herself. They don't want her to leave, but they aren't naive to the possibility. When Sarah goes into town, they spend the day waiting for her to return. When Sarah finally comes back, she brings blue and gray and green colored pencils: the colors of the sea. She tells them that she will always miss the sea, but she would miss Anna and Caleb and Jacob much more than she could ever miss the sea.

Commentary:
Sarah, Plain and Tall is a beautifully written book that, in the midst of its simplicity, gives the reader countless reasons to fall in love with Anna, Caleb, Papa, and Sarah. Caleb's inquisitiveness, Anna's gentle heart, Papa's quiet spirit, and of course Sarah, plain and tall touch the reader's heart and allow the reader to relate to each of the characters on a personal level.

Teaching Ideas:

• Have children make a table of contents with the chapter titles (shows the theme/main ideas of the chapter) à Idea from Fountas & Pinnell
• Character Web
• Bring seashells in for children to explore, do crafts with them, identify their names from a seashell resource book
• Venn Diagrams comparing and contrasting (the sea and the cow ponds, the sea and the prarie)
• Study about prairies
• Make a habitat shoebox
• “Virtual field trips”
• Adding with sea animals or prairie animals (could also tie in algebra with two different kinds of animals – because you can’t combine letter numbers and regular numbers)
• Practice writing letters (perhaps get a pen pal in another class)
• Brainstorm about traveling to a different place (talk to a partner and make a chart)
• Talk about one-room school houses (and perhaps a field trip to Genesee Country Museum)
• State projects on Maine and Kansas

Related Books:

Books by Patricia MacLachlan:
What you Know First
Baby
Journey
More Perfect than the Moon
Books about the Sea:
Time of Wonder by Robert McClosky
One Small Square Seashore by Donald M. Silver
Books about Family:
Mama One, Mama Two by Patricia MacLachlan
Books about living on the Prairie:
The Little House Cookbook by Barbara M. Walker