Barbara Park

In her own words, a young girl describes her feelings about starting kindergarten and what she does when she decides not to ride the bus home.

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

Wes Michaud

I read these books when I was like 5 or 6 or something and loved them that’s all I can say because I remember nothing about them but I liked the

Sarah Sammis

The Junie B. Jones series starts off with Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus in which Junie starts kindergarten an has to learn how to ride the bus to and from school.

Over all, I like the books from the series I've read. Unfortunately, the series gets a rough start. Junie here is acting much too young and her parents and teacher don't seem wiling to give her the support she obviously needs to get over her fears of kindergarten and of riding the bus.

The story is broken up into three parts: Junie meets her new teacher, Junie goes to school, and Junie refuses to ride the bus home. Junie is normally braver and stronger willed than she is in the first book. I can't imagine any of the kindergartners I know deciding to hide in a closet while the school closes, yet this is exactly what Junie does.

Happily in the later books in the series, Barbara Park gets a handle on Junie B. Jones's personality and she starts to act like a more typical child her age. Don't let this first rough book put you off the series if you haven't read it yet.

Elizabeth Clement

I’ve read this twice as part of my teaching job. It’s honestly the most obnoxious book. It’s like a poor man’s Beezus and Ramona. Junie B. Is seriously the biggest little shit I’ve ever seen in a children’s book. I can’t believe people give this to their children to read.

Chris Aldrich

Read this when it showed up in my Little Free Library. I remembered the late Barbara Park from having read Operation Dump the Chump in my youth.

I expected this to be a bit droll for me being geared toward 5-6 year olds, but was surprised to find myself laughing out loud several times. If I run across other June B.'s in the future, I think I'd actually take the time to read them just for the comedy and what appears to be a small amount of social satire.

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

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