Contemporary Realistic Fiction Book Review: Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day

Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day

"'When I count to three, you can open your papers. One...Two...Three...' I opened mine up. Then I did a gasp. 'Cause I saw letters, that's why! 'MRS., MRS.! LOOK! MY PAPER HAS LETTERS ON IT! IT IS THE WORD CAPTAIN, I THINK!'" - Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day

Author: Barbara Park
Illustrator: Denise Brunkus

Publisher: Random House

Copyright Date: 2001

Number of Pages: 66 pages

Reading Level: Grades 1-3

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Cost: $4.24 (Amazon)

Rating: ★★★★★

It's the big day - field day in kindergarten! Room Eight will compete against Room Nine, but who will be the champions? Junie B. Jones has confidence that Room Nine will win. They have the fastest kindergartner in their class and a boy who has been throwing softballs his whole life, of course they will win! That is, until Room Eight starts winning all of the events. Junie B. Jones is Room Nine's captain, Captain Field Day, and with her red cape, a towel, she zooms around her teammates as she tries to cheer them on, but slowly the excitement fades for the whole class, and Junie B. Jones. Will she be able to save field day for her team and help them pull off a win? Or will someone else have to step up and help the team?

Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day is a fun and exciting story about a very important day in the life of Junie B. Jones. It is field day for kindergarten and everyone is excited, until they start losing. This book would be great to use in the classroom to talk about sportsmanship, especially if a class has an upcoming field day. They could read the book as a class over a couple days and talk about some of the positive and negative aspects in the book that relate to sportsmanship. After finishing the book, the class could work together to come up with a list of ways to demonstrate good sportsmanship. 

Book Rating:

	★★★★★	★★★★	★★★	★★	★	COMMENTS
PLOT	Plot is well developed with all five elements of a good plot structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution).	Plot is developed, but lacking one of the five elements of plot structure.	This book has a decent plot, but is lacking two of the five elements of plot structure.	This book has a weak plot that is lacking three of the five elements of plot structure.	This book does not have a defined plot, and is lacking four or more of the five elements of plot structure.	★★★★★ I give Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day five stars for plot because it is a fun and engaging story about a day in the life of Junie B. Jones. This book contains all five elements of good plot structure.
CHARACTER	The characters are well developed, have personality, and are believable.	Characters are well rounded, but lack in personality or they are not totally believable.	Characters are somewhat developed, and lack in personality or they are not totally believable.	The characters are underdeveloped, lack in depth and are not believable.	The characters are not developed   so the readers cannot connect to the book.	★★★★★ I give Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day five stars for its characters. The main character, Junie B. Jones, is well-developed, has a great personality, and is very believable. The other characters in the book are explained by Junie B., which gives the reader a fun insight to who those characters are perceived to be by a young girl.
PACING	The story flows freely and is not rushed or slow.	The story moves freely for the most part, but there are a few spots where it feels rushed or slow.	The story moves freely for about half of the book, but the other half is rushed or slow.	The story often moves too fast or too slow and does not move freely.	There is no pacing in the story, which makes it difficult to read.	★★★★★ I give Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day five stars for pacing because it is a fun and engaging story about a day in Junie B. Jones' life. She is excited about her field day, and her actions throughout the day set a freely flowing pace to the book.

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