Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth

Park, B. (1993). Junie b. jones and her big fat mouth. New York, NY: Random House.

Series Book - Junie B. Jones

Exposition (the beginning of the story, establishment of setting and characters):  Junie Beatrice Jones, a Kindergarten student in room nine, is listening to “Mrs.,” her teacher, discuss various careers and that Monday would be Job Day.      

Conflict (the problem(s) faced by the characters):  Junie B.’s “big fat mouth” gets her into trouble when she tells her classmates on the bus that she is going to have a job that combines an artist, someone with keys, and a superhero all in one, and she has to think of one that blends all three; Junie B. also feels overlooked when she tries to employ the help of her parents who are too preoccupied with the new baby, Ollie.

Rising Action (events in the story leading up to the climax):  Junie B. and her classmates get to know about a lot of careers from Mrs. and from the visitors that come to their class, and at one point, Junie B. gets “punishment” for calling her friend Lucille a name and while at recess, she almost eats two cherry lifesavers off of the ground but the janitor stops her, and they become friends; after failing to get her parents to help her, Junie B. finally has a revelation, and she thinks of a career to have for Job Day that combines all three jobs into one.

Climax (the culmination of events in the story, point of highest reader interest):  On Job Day, Junie B. comes to school dressed like a janitor and carries some keys and a paint brush; her class laughs at her during her presentation, but she scolds them, saying they are not having “courtesy” for her, and informs them how their school janitor had saved her from eating the lifesavers off the ground, how he saved William from the dangerous dental floss when the dentist came to visit, how he unlocks bathroom doors with his keys so they can use the restroom, and how he paints littler cans with his paintbrush.

Falling Action (events leading to the solving of the story’s problems):  The janitor, Gus Vallony, comes to visit later for show and tell, and he plays the tools guessing game with them and tells the class about his job.

Resolution (how events and problems of the story are solved): One of her classmates, Lily, makes fun of Junie B. after she announces that she and the janitor are best friends and that she likes him, causing Junie B. to yell, “Me and my big fat mouth!” (Park, 1993), and Mrs., the janitor, and the entire class laugh.

Chapter books only (List two strong literary qualities displayed in the book and write one sentence about each quality): Barbara Park first uses the literary quality of point-of-view by writing in first person from Junie B.’s perspective; Junie B. is supposed to be a kindergarten student telling the story, and Park writes in very short, child-like sentences so that it does seem like Junie B. is actually the one telling the story.  Park also uses the literary quality of style and language by choosing simple words that a kindergarten student would actually say, using made up words like a kindergarten student would for unknown words, and by writing in a humorous way so that the reader has insight into Junie B.’s funny, “big mouth” personality.