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| Hearsay: |
Junie B. Jones is an, apparently, popular kidlit character who talks like real kids do. Some parents think this is not a good thing. You know, they might be right. Remember that entire generation that grew up talking like Dr. Seuss? We’re still in recovery from that, burbled the flinkflomp cat.
But more than a few parents have taken issue with Junie B., as she is called. Their disagreement is a pint-size version of the lingering education battle between advocates of phonics, who believe children should be taught proper spelling and grammar from the outset, and those who favor whole language, a literacy method that accepts misspellings and other errors as long as children are engaged in reading and writing.
The spunky kindergartener (first grader in more recent volumes) is prone to troublemaking, often calls people names and isn’t averse to talking back to her teachers. And though she is the narrator of the stories, she struggles with grammar. Her adverbs lack the suffix “ly”; subject and object pronouns give her problems, as do possessives; she usually isn’t able to conjugate irregular past tense verbs; and words like funnest and beautifuller are the mainstays of her vocabulary.
Children, however, are not usually strict grammarians. And it’s rare to find a child that isn’t quickly seduced by these silly, often slapstick stories. Even adults who are rankled by Junie B.’s impulsive, oft-unpunished shenanigans (playing with scissors or head-butting other children, for instance), can occasionally laugh at her odd little-girlisms. They include her passion for fixing toilets with her “grampa,” her desire to name her little brother “Mrs. Gutzman” after her favorite cafeteria lady, or her belief that green cucumber-like vegetables are named “Sue Keeny.”
Parenthood, though, is full of choices. Breast-feeding: Yea or nay? Muesli or Cap’n Crunch? Public or private school?
And now: To Junie B. or not to Junie B.?
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July 27th, 2007 at 7:36 am
The Junie B books are narrated first-person. Perfect grammar in a first-grader would destroy the voice.
July 27th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Why do we expect children’s stories to constantly teach something? Is this our inner Victorian? That said, the Junie B stories do spark empathy, compassion and patience … Junie B usually gets smacked upside the head somewhere along the way with the recognition that others’ needs are as valid as her own.
July 27th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Interesting link. I could barely get past the intro, though. “At her all-day princess-theme party for her graduation from preschool…” Come again?
July 27th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Lori,
I just finished an excellent book on that sort of thing, if you’re interested:
Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety.
Craziness.
July 27th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Thanks for the tip, Panic. Perfect Madness is next in line in my bedside stack, as a matter of fact, and I’m glad to hear you liked it.
If only I weren’t so busy organizing a gala celebration in honour of my son losing a tooth…
July 27th, 2007 at 11:57 am
I picked up the first Junie B. book from the library yesterday, after I read the Times piece. The grammar issues didn’t bother me at all. What did bother me — and my four-year-old — is that Junie B. is, to put it bluntly, kind of an asshole.
I posted a full review of the book over at my place this morning, but that’s my take in a nutshell.