by Barbara Park
Then my friend Lucille raised her hand.
“I’ve got one, too,” she said. “Sometimes my nanna calls my daddy a couch potato. Only he’s not a real potato. He’s just a lazy bum.”
“Yeah, and I’m not a big pig,” said my new boyfriend Ricardo. “But my mom says I eat like one.”
After that, a whole bunch of other kids said they eat like big pigs, too.
Only a boy named Donald said he eats like a horse.
And crybaby William eats like a bird.
Just then it was time for the bell to ring. And so me and Principal said bye-bye to each other. And I went to my seat.
Then I gave Lucille back her red chair. She was very nice to me.
“I’m sorry that your brother isn’t a real monkey, Junie B.,” she said.
“Thank you, Lucille,” I said. “I’m sorry that your daddy isn’t a real potato, too.”
After that, the bell rang for us to go home. And so me and Lucille and that Grace held hands. And we walked outside together.
Only then a very wonderful thing happened!
And it’s called—I heard my mother’s voice!
“JUNIE B.! JUNIE B.! OVER HERE, HONEY. DADDY AND I ARE OVER HERE!”
Then I looked in the parking lot. And I saw her! And so I runned to her speedy quick. And then me and Mother hugged and hugged. Because I hadn’t seen her for a very whole day!
Then my daddy got out of the car. And he had a little yellow blanket in his arms. And guess what was in that thing?
My new baby brother, that’s what!
He was very teeny. And pinkish. Except his head had a lot of black hair on it.
I touched it. It felt like fuzzy.
Just then Ricardo walked by. And he saw my teeny brother.
“Cool hair,” he said.
I smiled very big. “I know it, Ricardo,” I said. “And guess what else? He doesn’t even smell like P.U.”
After that I got in the car. And I told Mother about Lucille’s locket. And she said maybe I could get a locket, too. And I could put my brother’s teeny head in there.
“Yes. And I would also like some pink high tops, please,” I said very polite.
“Maybe,” said Mother.
“Oh boy!” I said.
’Cause maybe doesn’t mean no! That’s why!
And so then I lifted up the blanket. And I peeped at my baby brother one more time.
“So what do you think of him, Junie B.?” said Mother.
I smiled very big. “I think he’s the cutest little monkey I ever saw,” I said.
Then Mother laughed.
And I laughed, too.
Laugh out loud with Junie B. Jones!
#1 Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus
#2 Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business
#3 Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth
#4 Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying
#5 Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake
#6 Junie B. Jones and That Meanie Jim’s Birthday
#7 Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren
#8 Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed
#9 Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook
#10 Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal
#11 Junie B. Jones Is a Beauty Shop Guy
#12 Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy
#13 Junie B. Jones Is (almost) a Flower Girl
#14 Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentime
#15 Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket
#16 Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day
#17 Junie B. Jones Is a Graduation Girl
#18 Junie B., First Grader (at last!)
#19 Junie B., First Grader: Boss of Lunch
#20 Junie B., First Grader: Toothless Wonder
#21 Junie B., First Grader: Cheater Pants
#22 Junie B., First Grader: One-Man Band
#23 Junie B., First Grader: Shipwrecked
#24 Junie B., First Grader: BOO…and I MEAN It!
#25 Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May.)
#26 Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha!
#27 Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny
Top-Secret Personal Beeswax: A Journal by Junie B. (and me!)
Junie B.’s Essential Survival Guide to School
Barbara Park says:
“When I was in elementary school, I used to dream about having a baby sister. In my dream, she would follow me around adoringly while I taught her everything I knew. Then—when she got big enough—we would join forces to overthrow my older brother, and the sisters would rule!
Okay, fine. It was only a dream. But when I decided to add a new member to Junie B.’s family, I was surprised to learn that, unlike me, she wasn’t happy about having a new baby around at all.
But what if it wasn’t an ordinary baby? What if it was—a baby monkey? Yes, of course! She’d love that.
Come to think of it, I would have loved it, too. My brother wouldn’t have stood a chance.”
Text copyright © 1993 by Barbara Park.
Illustrations copyright © 1993 by Denise Brunkus.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American
Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by
Random House, Inc., and simultaneously in Canada by
Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones and a little monkey business /
Barbara Park; illustrated by Denise Brunkus. p. cm.
“A first stepping stone book.” SUMMARY: Through a misunderstanding, Junie B. thinks that her new baby brother is really a baby monkey, and her report of this news creates excitement and trouble in her kindergarten class.
eISBN: 978-0-307-75477-6
[1. Babies—Fiction. 2. Brothers and sisters—Fiction.
3. Kindergarten—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction.]
I. Brunkus, Denise, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.P2197Jt 1993 [Fic]—dc20 92-56706
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