Junie B Substitutes

Oh, Junie B.  You've been around so long that you are legal to drink, and yet everyone has the same complaint about you.  STOP TALKING LIKE A BABY!

The grammar in the Junie B books is terrible, but they are funny and children love them.  One first grade teacher in my former library district even recommended them to her students.  I personally don't think that she knew what she was doing, but I spent every summer steering children away from the comfortable, but grammatically incorrect world of Junie B to something much more satisfying.  

Just this weekend, my best friend (Hi Sara!) asked for read-alikes for Junie B with better language.  Here's my list of top picks, in no particular order.


Just Grace by Charise Mericle Harper

The Just Grace series features a funny main character and intermittent pictures.  It's a little more challenging of a read than Junie B, but readers will be rewarded.

Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker 

Clementine is definitely a grammatically correct Junie B.  She doesn't always behave herself and she's quite the handful, but the text and pictures could not be more fun.

Bink and Golie by Kate DiCamillo and Allison McGhee

Bink and Gollie are two best friends that are total opposites and they are totally irresistible!  The reading level is spot on for Junie B fans, and it won the Geisel Award for young readers, meaning that this is a great beginning reader book.

Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo

I know what you're going to say-that's a pig, not a girl!.  It doesn't matter.  Mercy Watson is hilarious, and boys and girls just crack up over her.  Wonderful color illustrations pair with funny text, and a pig running around for crying out loud.  You couldn't ask for a better combination.  This also makes the Geisel list, so perfect for beginning readers.

Ling and Ting by Grace Lin

Ling and Ting are newcomers, but Grace Lin is a very talented author that will grace us with more adventures of these two identical twins.  What these two lack in difference of appearance, they make up for in difference of attitude.  This is on the easier side, but readers will love it!

Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows

Ivy and Bean had to become friends after a joke gone wrong solidifies their bond.  These girls are very different but perfect together, like an older Bink and Gollie.  These books are quick and funny with plenty of charm.

Ruby Lu by Lenore Look

 

Ruby Lu is spunky, energetic and positive.   This is a girl that loves to put on magic shows for the neighborhood and have a good time.  She's everything that Junie B should be.

So, there you have it, six great series about wacky girls, and one about a pig.  I have shown you plenty of books to reform your little Junie B lover into a grammatically correct feisty girl.  

Do you have other great Junie B read-alikes?  Would you like to see more books for boys that love Junie B.?  Any other burning reader's advisory questions out there?  Comment below or email me at misstiffreads at gmail dot com.  

Happy Reading!

It's been a while

My last post was over a week ago about how nutty I was with VBS, and now that seems ages ago!  I will be back next week with a VBS wrap up, complete with craft, activity and snack ideas, and some pictures.

But let's recap the past week of crazy.

I wake up Thursday morning to find out that there had been a small electrical fire in my office building-weird right?  But that made going into work difficult, so I decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Georgia to see my nephew, Anthony, get adopted!  So, I packed Thursday, worked in a temp office Friday, drove to my parents Friday night, drove with them to Georgia on Saturday and spent three great days with my sister, bro-in-law and the little man!

 

 There will be more pictures later.  I've been promising lots of pictures for a while haven't I?  But I do have a great pic of Anthony reading to his grandparents from my Kindle.  He's such a little reader!  Although when he reads the Magician's Elephant, it's nothing like the original version.  

Promises, promises, I know, but stay tuned for a full family wrap-up next week (I'm going all the way back to my curvy family tree), along with my VBS wrap up and yes, more storytimes!

Happy Reading!

Little Much

It's Vacation Bible School week for Miss Tiff!  Somehow, while having an innocent Sunday School meeting, I ended up running VBS.  I still to this day do not understand quite how this happened, but here we are.  So, this week I'm at my day job, then take a 40 minute break to pet the dog and change clothes, then over to the church for an Amazing Desert Journey!  Then back home, eat an apple, go sleep, repeat.

I'm running on about 1/8th of a tank.  I won't say I'm empty yet, but I'm getting a little crazy right now.  It's never a good thing when you start singing Billy Ocean at random and dancing like Carlton from Fresh Prince at your desk.  Got the visual?  Good, now join me!

What fun for a Wednesday!  I wonder what my addled state will bring tomorrow?  Maybe actual pictures of VBS and ideas for how you can make yourself so crazy that you to sing 80's music and dance like a fool too!

I do promise that there will be a VBS recap once I regain my composure, which should happen sometime around November!

Happy Reading!

The Wedding

My pastor's son got married a couple weeks ago in a beautiful ceremony.  I was asked to watch the kids during the actual ceremony to keep them from getting wiggly and disrupting the love.  I was told that I would be watching 3 year-olds, so I grabbed a bunch of books and a craft and made up treat bags and was all set.

Then, I was given my assignment at the wedding.  Watch 18 week-old Quinlen, whose mom was part of the wedding part and whose dad was watching the little guy's three young siblings.  And let me tell you, there's a big difference between entertaining a gaggle of toddlers for 40 minutes and entertaining a baby for 40 minutes.

Lucky me, he mostly slept, but when he did wake up and saw a strange person holding him, life got rough.  I went downstairs with him and sang while he wailed away and finally hiccuped himself to sleep.  Seriously.  I had no idea that he was asleep because he just kept hiccuping away.

After I was sure that the little guy was passed out, I went back upstairs, but when the couple was pronounced man and wife, the organ came to life with a bang and startled my little wiggler, but luckily with some bouncing he was back to sleep.

I did tell my pastor that this could be a new service that the church offers--child care during the wedding ceremony.  Next time I hope I get some kids that will sit through a story and interact a little more, but my baby time was great too.  But there were some toddlers that needed to be outside the ceremony having a little more fun.

I had two great paper dolls ready, this bride and groom from DLTK Kids.  The groom is adorable, but the bride looks a little bridezilla-ish.  It's one of those relationships where you want to take the guy aside and say "are you sure you want to go through with this?", but kids won't understand that, so you're fine.  My books were all random books I loved, like Bubble Trouble, We Are in a Book, and The Perfect Nest, so I was just planning on inproving a greatest hits storytime.

This is just another way to use library skills outside the library!

Happy Reading

Big Appetites!!

So, I've already shared a Fun Food storytime, but what about BIG APPETITES!  It's a fun theme that about more than just your run of the mill food stories.  Just check it out!

Big Appetites!

Opening Song:  Bendable, Stretchable by Georgiana Stewart

Opening Rhyme:  Dance Your Fingers

Dance your fingers up, dance your fingers down, dance your fingers to the side, dance them round and round.

Dance them on your shoulders, dance them on your head, dance them on your belly, now put them to bed.

Book:  The Incredible Boy Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers

Rhyme:  Chocolate Rhyme:

Chocolate, chocolate tastes so sweet, how much chocolate can I eat?

Chocolate pudding, chocolate chips, chocolate ice cream double-dips

Chocolate candy, chocolate bars, chocolate cookies in a cookie jar

Chocolate syrup, chocolate drops, chocolate in my lollipops

Chocolate cream pie, chocolate shake.

Too much chocolate means a tummy ache!

Book:  I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry

Rhyme:  Caught a Million Fish

Caught a million fish, what’ll I do? (3x)

I’ll bring them home to show you

Alligator ate some, what’ll I do? (3x)

I’ll bring the rest to show you.

Cat ate some, raccoon ate some, what else could eat some?

Three fish left, what’ll I do? (3x)

I’ll have to tell the tale to you.

Book:  I Know an Old Lady by G. Brian Karas

Song:  There was an old lady who swallowed a cheeseburger

Click Here for the text to this song, and maybe print out some pictures to reinforce what the old lady is eating.

Book:  Harry Hungry by Steven Salerno

Rhyme:  Great Big Cookie

I am a great big cookie, chocolately and round

Filled with lots of chocolate chips, the best that can be found.

I am a great big cookie, take a bite of me.

Tasty, sweet, delicious.  I’m oh so yummy.

I was a great big cookie, the very best around.

Now there’s nothing left of me, just crumbs upon the ground.

Rhyme:  3 Cookies

A great big cookie, a medium-sized cookie, a teeny-tiny cookie I see

Let’s count them—1, 2, 3!

Book:  Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Closing Song:  Thank You Clap

My hands say thank you with a clap, clap, clap

My feet say thank you with a tap, tap, tap

Clap, clap, clap, tap, tap, tap

And now we say goodbye!

Quick Tip

How many passwords do you have?  I'm guessing that it numbers in the dozens.  Between email, online banking, magazines, memberships, and the dreaded work passwords that expire every 3 months, I'm up to my eyeballs in passwords.  And it's almost impossible to remember them all, especially since you often can't repeat passwords or use the same password on work accounts.

So, my solution has been to pick a book I've recently read and loved, and change all of my passwords to that for the month.  I don't use titles, but I do use character names, special phrases, and places as passwords.  Then all I have to do is keep a picture of the cover on my board and when I can't remember a password, I look over and that at least narrows it down.

Plus typing in a favorite character name or phrase makes me smile every morning.  It's like getting to remember a good friend everyday.  I recommend this trick if you are a reader and find it impossible to remember all those different passwords.  Just make it a theme from your favorite book.

Happy Reading!

My Dirty Little Reading Secret

I have wanted to admit this for a long time, but since this book is so taboo, so beyond banning, I haven't.  But, since very few people read this blog yet, I'm coming clean.  My favorite book as a child was:

My mom bought the Little Golden Book version of Little Black Sambo on a rummage sale at some point, or maybe we got it from a cousin, but at any rate this was my favorite book and I would ask for it over and over again.  And my mom didn't want to read it to me because she thought it would make me a racist.  True story.

Here's why I loved this book.  

1.  Tigers.  I love tigers, and the year that I was 17 the only thing I wanted for Christmas was a tiger-striped fleece blanket which I still have to this day.  Anyway, I loved these huge talking, ferocious tigers that took Little Black Sambo's things and walked away saying "Now I'm the finest tiger in the jungle"

2.  Pancakes.  Every book I remember from childhood had food in it.  There was  Bugs Bunny camping book where they eat wild onions and a Strawberry Shortcake book where they have a picnic.  And at the end of LBS, our hero eats 169 pancakes "because he was so hungry"!  I'm quoting these lines from memory, by the way.  I don't have the book with me right now.

3.  Tiger striped pancakes.  Does it get better?!  The tigers all meet up and get in a fight about who's the finest in the jungle and they take off all of their finery and grab tails and run round and round the tree where our hero hides and they run so fast that they melt into butter.  Then Little Black Sambo's dad scoops up the butter into a large brass pot that he bought at the bazaar and takes it home for mom to make pancakes.  But since it's tiger butter, it makes tiger pancakes.  Wow!  

To me, as a child, the word Sambo was a name, not some loaded historically hateful term.  I'd never heard it before.  Also, I loved the imagery and world in LBS.  The boy was so adorable to me, and yes, he ends up naked at the end, but kids love naked heinies in books, that's still true!  I loved that the father went to the bazaar and brought back presents for Sambo and that he took off into the jungle and outsmarted those tigers.  I loved how silly the tiger looked with purple shoes with crimson soles and crimson linings stuck to his ears.  I just liked the book for reasons that had nothing to do with race.

The major sticking point for everyone, for good reason, is the portrayal of the characters as negative stereotypes.  The original by Helen Bannerman was extremely offensive, and the version that I read as a child illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren is also problematic.  The term Sambo is also offensive, and it often changed for other versions of the story, but the controversial history of the book lingers no matter the version and this is a story that has been vilified. 

I still have my Little Golden Book version of Little Black Sambo, and honestly, I'll read it to my kids.  But I have a lot of books on my shelf, plus a library close by, so I have no doubt that my future littlies will have plenty of access to other books, and this one will likely not be their favorite.  Also, as kids get older, this book would make a great talking point about banned books, race, story retellings and the like.  So, I would never force this book on other children, but it was just a big part of my reading experience that I will certainly share it with my kids.

Please, no hate mail.  This is just my opinion.

Happy Reading!