Review: Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth - Colleen AF Venable and Honie Beam

Review:  Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth - Colleen AF Venable and Honie Beam -  May 2026

There are books you read, and then there are books that read you right back  cracking open a chapter of your childhood and handing it to you with a grin. Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth, now reimagined as a full-colour graphic novel, did exactly that to me.

Here's my confession: I was seven or eight years old when I first fell headlong into the world of Junie B. Jones. Barbara Park's junior fiction series was pure joy on a page ,  chaotic, hilarious, and narrated by a kindergartner with absolutely zero filter. I tore through those little chapter books like they were going out of fashion. Now, thirty-something years later, I find myself sitting down with the graphic novel adaptation and laughing just as loudly. Possibly louder. My family thinks I've lost the plot. Maybe I have, but I regret nothing.

In this story, Junie B. has made one of her classic, spectacular blunders. It's Job Day in Room 9, and in a moment of pure Junie B. bravado, she's announced to her entire class that she's going to have the bestest job in the whole wide world. The only problem? She has absolutely no idea what that job is. Cue the delightful spiral of schemes, logic only a six-year-old could follow, and the very real terror of being called a fibber in front of everyone.

What makes the graphic novel format such a treat is how perfectly it suits Junie B.'s personality. She is, at her core, a visual character with all of her wild expressions, flailing arms, and dramatic eyebrows. The full-colour illustrations bring the chaos of Room 9 to life in a way that feels both fresh and deeply familiar. Reading it, I kept catching echoes of that little girl who used to prop up her chapter book on the dinner table, giggling at the same jokes that still land today.

These graphic novel adaptations are a wonderful bridge between generations. For parents and older readers, they're a nostalgia hit of the best kind. For a new generation of young readers, they're a gateway into one of the most beloved children's series of all time. Either way, Junie B. Jones is back, and her big fat mouth has never been more welcome.

Amazon:https://amzn.to/4fJ7CVg