THE woman behind the hugely popular Junie B. Jones books gets two kinds of fan mail: the sweet – and the “extraordinarily nasty.”
“There’s a really, really small but very vocal minority – sometimes parents, occasionally grandparents – who don’t like the fact that this 6-year-old character doesn’t speak the queen’s English,” Barbara Park tells The Post.
It bothers them, she says, that little Junie B. – who often announces that “The B stands for Beatrice. Except I don’t like Beatrice” – stumbles over words, mixes up her tenses, and occasionally lashes out with a grade-school diss like “stupid head.”
Sounding hurt, Park says, “I can understand someone not liking something I’ve written, but the level of anger and vitriol is unbelievable!”
Happily, the legions of Junie B. fans easily outnumber those people. Since the series launched in 1992 – back when Junie was a kindergartner – the early-reader chapter books have been published in eight languages and 11 countries (Latvia and Serbia among them), selling more than 28 million in all.
The 25th book in the series – “Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (P.S. So Does May)” – came out a few weeks ago, and Aneesa Morea started reading it the instant she had it in hand.
“I have every single Junie B. book,” says the Northvale, N.J., 7-year-old – a fact her mother, Chris, dutifully confirms. “I love each adventure!”
In New York the other day for a rare book tour, Park – a slim, youthful-looking 58-year-old who lives in Arizona – looked a bit like the girl in her books, right down to the fluffy blond hair and glasses.
Growing up in Mount Holly, N.J. (“It’s near Exit 5,” she explains, helpfully), she wasn’t much of a reader.
“Comic books, mostly,” she confesses. “I also read the typical Nancy Drew kind of stuff. But I wasn’t an avid reader until high school, and ‘Catcher in the Rye.’ That was the first book that ever felt like a real person to me.
“I later read that it took Salinger 10 years to write that book. Thank goodness!”
Here’s what else she revealed:
Q. Did you ever get sent to the principal’s office?
A. Like Junie B., I was unable to raise my hand. I was always talking, and I think I was warned about it – a number of times. I started taking notes home: “Barbara must learn to control herself, Barbara must learn to raise her hand.” Then, all of a sudden, it was, “Barbara, I would like you to go down to the office.” And I had to sit in that chair – you know, where all the bad kids sit.
That’s why Junie B. is always saying, “I’m not bad,” when people come in and see her – it’s a terrible feeling.
Q. How did you come up with that name?
A. I sat down one day with a paper and pencil, trying to come up with a clever name, one with some energy to it. I wanted her to have a slight problem with her name, and in this case, people never remember her B., she’s always having to say, “It’s Junie B.” I had a similar issue; my initials were B.L.T. and my mother was always embroidering them into my clothes, so I looked like a walking sandwich board. “Yes, I know BLT is a sandwich, yes!”
Q. Do you know any real-life Junie B.’s?
A. I think there’s always something that rings true in every character I write. As far as her being based on any real person, no.
Q. Do you kid-test the books first?
A. I don’t, but I used to test the language on my sons – they’re in their 30s now. A lot of teachers wonder where I get this voice, since I’m not around kids all the time. And I tell them I’m just immature. I can just go back to that age so easily in my head. It’s not a talent – I can’t take credit for it. It’s just not hard for me to get into her head. and I don’t necessarily think that’s a good thing!
Q. So tell us about the good mail you get.
A. It’s unbelievable – we get tons of letters, about 1,000 a month. It’s a lot of mail. By we, I mean my husband and myself. That includes letters from classrooms. Teachers love the fact that she isn’t perfect, that they can use her by pointing out what’s wrong. They all have at least one Junie. B. in their class, so they can identify.
One of the letters I love was from a little girl who wrote, “I know that Junie B. isn’t real, but do you think she can come to our school?”
Q. So what’s next?
A. Junie’s going to Hawaii with her parents. I even have a title: “Aloha – Ha ha!”
SHE’S ALIVE
YOU’VE read the books – now see the musical. Theatreworks/NYC is giving an encore presentation of “Junie B. Jones,” in which the grammatically incorrigible kindergartner preps for first grade and all that entails: new teacher, new friends … new glasses.
The show – book and lyrics by Marcy Heisler, music by Zina Goldrich – runs through Dec. 3 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher St.
Tickets are free for kids and $15 per adult at a series of 10:30 a.m. “Mom’s Matinees” (Nov. 17, 21, 22, 29, 30 and Dec. 1); other performances are $35 each, or $25 for a group of four or more. Visit twusa.org or call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200.