Tiny Treasury

The seven stories in Judy Blume’s “Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One” (which I finally finished) revolve around third grader Abigail, the Great One, and her little brother first grader Jake, the Pain. Written for ages 4-9, the target age group will definitely relate to the sibling bickering in this fun and easy to read chapter book. Abigail is afraid to ride a bike but too embarrassed to admit it to her friends. Jake is afraid to get his hair cut for fear the barber will cut off his ears. The situations are sweet and true to life and James Stevenson’s illustrations are delightful.

Judy Blume’s stories aren’t all so kid friendly according to parents. Blume’s books are some of the most challenged books in schools and libraries across the country. One of my father’s favorite stories is that when I was little I read books faster than he could buy them. By the age of five I was reading books well above my maturity level because I could. One night when I was five I was in bed reading “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” and I called him into my room. “Dad,” I asked, “what’s a period?” My poor, flustered father had to try to explain menstruation to his slightly grossed out kindergartener.

When I was eight my aunt took me out shopping with her and we stopped to browse at a used bookstore. I recognized Judy Blume’s name on the cover and had her buy me a copy of “Forever” for a quarter. I got home and read the entire thing in one sitting, not quite mature enough to really understand what it was about, but old enough to know it was steamy stuff. It was only when I lent it to my best friend that I got in trouble. Her mother was outraged that I’d lent her a book with obscene language and sexual content. In retrospect, my “bad influence�? may have been one of the reasons her parents moved out of the neighborhood.

While I don’t plan on purchasing young adult novels for my future early elementary grade children, I certainly hope that they’ll learn to appreciate Judy Blume’s stories about young love, friendship, and insecurities. Her books were groundbreaking at a time when books about love were either chaste or preachy, and the characters in young adult novels didn’t experience the down and dirty, uncomfortable moments that most actual young adults experience on a daily basis.

Five of Judy Blume’s books are on the ALA’s list of 100 Most Challenged Books of 1990 to 2000. She continues to fight censorship.

“[I]t’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.�? — Judy Blume