Wowie wow wow! My love of Junie B. Jones

I have taught preschool for over twelve years, essentially my whole working career.  I consider myself somewhat of an expert on books for preschoolers and have some ideas for future posts about that.  But I have recently discovered a new friend--Junie B.

Barbara Park has created this enthusiastic little character and written a couple dozen books tracking her adventures through kindergarten and first grade.  Junie B. reminds me quite a bit of Ramona Quimby from my youth.  However Junie B. is much more enthusiastic and speaks in a language that is true to life.  I have had friends tell me that can't handle Junie B. because she is a brat.  Well she might be a bit of a brat, but so are many other kids that I love.  You gotta love a kid with spunk.

My boys love listening to Junie B. Jones and their mom loves to read about her.  Here are some quotes from  Junie B.

Each book starts the same:  "My name is Junie B. Jones.  The B stands for Beatrice.  Except I don't like Beatrice.  I just like B and that's all."

Junie B. on the baby's room:  "Mother and Daddy fixed up a room for the new baby.  It's called a nursery.  Except I don't know why.  Because a baby isn't a nurse, of course."
...from Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business

Junie B. on rules:  "Me and Mother had a little talk.  It was called--no screaming back off, clown.  Only I never even heard of that rule before."
...from Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake

Junie B. on her baby brother:  "His name is Ollie.  I love him a real lot.  Except I wish he didn't live at my actual house."
...from Junie B. Jones and That Meanie Jim's Birthday


Sometimes the characters from Junie B. sneak out in play at my house.  Meanie Boy Jim appears whenever a brother is not playing the way another brother likes.  And Cry Baby William has made an appearance or two as well.  (PS she does end up liking both Jim and William as they redeem themselves later in the series.)

If you have children you love that are in early elementary school I would recommend Junie B.  I love that Colby's first grade teacher reads a bit of Junie B. everyday.  She says she normally gets through to whole set by the end of the year.  He has heard a few of them a couple of times, and other than he has a hard time not giving things away, he doesn't complain that he has already heard the book.  I love that the boys look forward to our chapter before bed and so do I.

Crayola Crayon Maker

Think back to your youth.  What happened when your crayons broke?  Or when they became a stubbie (as Junie B. Jones would say)?  They were not nearly as fun and I bet you wanted to throw them away and get new ones.  New pointy crayons are always more attractive than broken or stubby crayons.  

I am a teacher and a mom to three young children.  I also volunteer as a Sunday School Teacher.  In all those areas I am in contact with crayons.  I am frugal.  I like to use that word--it sounds better than cheap.  I have a friend who calls it thriftilicious, which is a fun word too.  Anyway... I asked for a Crayon-Maker for Christmas and my sister got me one.  Yay!

(Yay!  That's my first picture)

To use the crayon maker, you take all those broken and stubby crayons and peel off the paper.  Then break them into two or three pieces.  You place them in the metal tray at the top of the machine, turn on the timer (which turns on the light bulb), and wait about 15 minutes.  When the crayons are melted, you pour them into the molds, and wait for the safety screen to unlock.  In about 30 minutes total, you go from brokens and stubbies to pointy and sometimes swirly crayons.

Things I wish I had known.

*The lightbulb that provides the heat is not included.  But on the outside of the box it does tell you what size you buy.

*The crayons you end up with are about half the length of a normal crayon.  I'm okay with this because this size actually helps develop proper grip for the preschoolers in your life.

*The box shows swirly crayons.  Some of mine were swirly, but most were not.  I was okay with that.

*The timer and melt tray do not always work properly on my machine.  The timer will shut itself off at random times, so I have to listen for the ticking.  I actually got to where I could tell when it was time to dump by the smell of the melted wax.  (I can also tell when my breads are done by smell--pretty cool.)  The melt trays on my machine also don't always fall into the grooves properly and sometimes I have to jimmy them to get them in the proper placement for pouring.  For these two reasons, I would not recommend this for a child.  I get frustrated with them, imagine how frustrating it would be for a ten year old.

It sounds like I didn't like my new toy.  But I did like it.  In fact I had it cooking crayons nearly every waking hour of my Christmas break.  And no I did not go around break my boys' crayons to play with my toy, like my lovely sister keeps claiming.  I have access to plenty of old crayons that are wanting to be new again.  And the Crayon Maker does come with some new crayons as well.  I refuse to melt down perfectly good crayons, though.

I believe this machine retails for less than twenty dollars.  If you are a frugal teacher, day care provider, mom, or someone who likes to color, I recommend the Crayola Crayon Maker.  The kids were interested in the process and proudly showed the completed crayons to others.  But I would definitely plan to provide supervision with children using this machine.

(I was not asked to review this machine and am receiving no compensation.  I just wanted to share my thoughts with you.)