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Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal
...and this Teacher's Guide

Junie B. is spending the night at Lucille's richie nanna's giant house. Everything was fine, until nanna’s crystal broke. Then it was one disaster after another. Junie B. realizes that having a regular grandma may be better than having a rich one.

A drama and language arts lesson has students reenact her friends in Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal.

Barbara Park says...
"When I was little, spending the night at a friend's house for the first time always felt like an adventure. I felt like a spy, almost. So many intriguing questions waiting to be answered.

What was her family like? What did they eat for dinner? Would I like it . . . or would I have to pretend to sneeze, and then quick spit it into my napkin? How late would I get to stay up? Were the parents nice . . . or would they yell at me if I got the giggles and couldn't go to sleep? What did everyone's pajamas look like? What did they have for breakfast? Were they rich? Whoa! That would be exciting, wouldn't it? To see how rich people lived?

When I put Junie B. into this position, I was almost as excited as she was. Finally, I'd get to spend the night in a rich person's house! (Even if it was only in my imagination.)

Needless to say, I was pretty surprised the way everything turned out. Even more surprised than Junie B., who ended up teaching me one of life's great lessons: Rich is good . . . but blueberry pancakes are better.

Who knew?"

© 1997 by Barbara Park

Pre-Reading Activities
In Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal, Junie B. learns that spending the night at Lucille's giant house is not exactly what she had expected it to be. Ask your students if they've ever been very excited about something, and then been disappointed with the results. Discuss the various lessons that might have been learned from each disappointment. Was it really a disappointment after all?

Dress Up with Junie B.
When Lucille's nanna provides some old gowns for dress-up, Junie and her friends re-create Cinderella's ball with a few imaginative changes. Using old clothes or simple clothing articles created from paper, cardboard, or other handy materials, have student groups reenact scenes from selected fairy tales, embellished with creative character/plot additions and twists. Musical renditions are always welcome. Original tales may be read aloud before "modernized" performances to allow students to identify and discuss differences and express preferences.

Printable Activities