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 blu...

Review: Junie B Jones and a Little Monkey Business - Adapted by Colleen AF Venable and Ilustrated by Homie Bean - September 2025 Right, so here's the thing about Junie B. Jones , she tells it exactly like it is, and bless her cotton socks for that. When Barbara Park plonked a baby brother situation into Junie B.'s world in Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business , she gave us one of those deliciously chaotic stories that perfectly captures how kids actually feel about new siblings. Now, this graphic novel adaptation brings all that mayhem to life with pictures that are just as wonderfully chaotic as Junie B. herself. Our girl Junie B. is decidedly NOT thrilled about this impending arrival. Babies, she informs us with absolute authority, smell like "P.U." She knows this because she smelled one once, and that's scientific evidence enough for her, thank you very much. I mean, can we blame her? She's quite content with her life as it is—Room Nine at kinderga...

Review: Junie B. Jones and The Stupid Smelly Bus - Adapted by Colleen AF Venable and Illustrated by Honie Beam - April 2025 As someone who devoured Barbara Park’s Junie B. Jones books back in the mid-1990s, I was thrilled when Penguin Random House Kids Graphic offered me the chance to review this fresh adaptation of Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus — now reimagined as a junior graphic novel. I vividly remember reading the original between 1994 and 1995, laughing at Junie B.’s sassy voice and wild adventures, and this graphic adaptation brought all those nostalgic feelings rushing back. The story follows Junie B. on her very first day of kindergarten, where she faces a massive hurdle: the dreaded school bus. From the title alone, you know exactly how Junie B. feels about the bus — she’s convinced it’s dirty, smelly, and full of mean kids. Her stubbornness, quirky logic, and hilarious antics shine through as she tries to navigate this new experience. Whether it’s deciding she’...