tammyw Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I read a lot of her books as a kid, but I honestly don't remember them. I didn't really have a good reading guide like my kids do. I kind of kept my dd9 away from her books up until now because she believed in Santa Claus :) but she now is part of the secret (in that she is now one of Santa's helpers!) (I know that Santa is discussed in one of the books, and I didn't want a book to be the cause of her not believing anymore.) I was wondering if these books are considered decent literature? Or not so much? She loves Beverly Cleary books. I know some of them are more appropriate for a bit older. Just wanted to know if there are thoughts on this author? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 My son loves Judy Blume. He's read Tale of the Fourth Grade Nothing several times, and some of the sequels about Fudge that we got out of the library. Which book talks about Santa? I don't know if my son believes in Santa or not. I suspect not, because of a comment he made one day. When DS2 asked where the Easter Bunny lives, DS1 said, "The south pole." and gave me a grin as if he was in on the secret. But sometimes you can't completely tell with kids! It'd be nice if he'd let me know, so I could recruit him to help with Christmas this year. :lol: Oh, and he also read SOTW2, which talks about the origin of Santa, so he may have gotten it from that. I dunno. Anyway, I don't know how "literary" the Judy Blume books are, but I don't mind my son reading twaddle now and then either. He reads Star Wars books regularly, and I think that has greatly improved his reading stamina. He can finish a Star Wars chapter book in a day easily. He still enjoys the "good literature" I give him also, so it's all good. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I think Judy Blume books have value. The occupy a niche that is hard to fill. Many of her books are great for kids who are transitioning from juvenile books to YA. There is a time when they are not quite one or the other, and Judy Bloom (among a few others) is there. I know you are asking about literary quality, and I will leave that to others to debate. I know that she is still getting letters from kids thanking her for writing books that are meaningful to their lives. So, is she writing books for the ages? Prob not. But she is able to provide something that is meaningful to some. I remember moving from Beverly Cleary into Judy Bloom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 My son loves Judy Blume. He's read Tale of the Fourth Grade Nothing several times, and some of the sequels about Fudge that we got out of the library. Which book talks about Santa? I don't know if my son believes in Santa or not. I suspect not, because of a comment he made one day. When DS2 asked where the Easter Bunny lives, DS1 said, "The south pole." and gave me a grin as if he was in on the secret. But sometimes you can't completely tell with kids! It'd be nice if he'd let me know, so I could recruit him to help with Christmas this year. :lol: Oh, and he also read SOTW2, which talks about the origin of Santa, so he may have gotten it from that. I dunno. Anyway, I don't know how "literary" the Judy Blume books are, but I don't mind my son reading twaddle now and then either. He reads Star Wars books regularly, and I think that has greatly improved his reading stamina. He can finish a Star Wars chapter book in a day easily. He still enjoys the "good literature" I give him also, so it's all good. ;) Here's the review from amazon that talks about Santa: I read these books as a kid, too, and loved them. So, my 3rd grade daughter and I were reading them at night. We are reading "Superfudge" and it has several topics you may not be ready for. While most of the book is very funny and we had a lot of laughs, I was not laughing at the part about how babies are made. I also didn't enjoy the chapter, "Santa, who?" Just a warning to parents, they talk about not believing in Santa Claus. I know not everyone does, but we still do. So, I would wait to read these books until your child is a little older Funny about SOTW is that hearing that about St. Nick, for my daughter, gave her the greatest of resolve that in fact he was real. She said "see, he IS real!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 While most of the book is very funny and we had a lot of laughs, I was not laughing at the part about how babies are made. I also didn't enjoy the chapter, "Santa, who?" Just a warning to parents, they talk about not believing in Santa Claus. I know not everyone does, but we still do. So, I would wait to read these books until your child is a little older Hmmm... So what does it say about how babies are made? The book has already gone back to the library, and it's been years since I read it. Superfudge was one that we did check out. Funny about SOTW is that hearing that about St. Nick, for my daughter, gave her the greatest of resolve that in fact he was real. She said "see, he IS real!" LOL! I don't know what my son thought about that chapter, as we never got around to narrating that one or discussing it. I know he read it several times though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 (edited) . Edited May 20, 2012 by Northwest_Mama changed my mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Hmmm... So what does it say about how babies are made? The book has already gone back to the library, and it's been years since I read it. Superfudge was one that we did check out. I have no idea what it says about how babies are made, but now I'm terribly curious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 . Uh oh :) What'd you change your mind about?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I think her later books are the more controversial ones because Are You There God... talks about menstruation and religion (both, not about religious views of menstruation), Deenie has m@sturbation, Forever has a non-traumatic sex theme with unmarried teens (vs being a rape or pregnancy book), and Blubber because the bullies triumph (some people are apparently mad the book doesn't have a more pat moral "message" or tidy resolution). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applesing Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I read Judy Blume books when I was in elementary school. I do remember aspects of them. Some of the content was . . . eye opening. My mother actually complained to the school librarian about one of them. I think that it was the only time she complained about a book. I am gently steering my daughters away from them, for now anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulubelle Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I read all her books when I was a kid and I will also steer my kids away from them. I see no value in them at all (the books for older girls). I wish I had had a parent directing me toward true literature at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I read all her books when I was a kid and I will also steer my kids away from them. I see no value in them at all (the books for older girls). I wish I had had a parent directing me toward true literature at that age.I'm curious as to what qualifies as "true literature" that might speak to a pre-teen/early teen girl? Anne of Green Gables and its ilk are all fine and dandy, but none of her pangs about growing up fall into the realm of physical development, much less existential angst. FWIW, I read Lady Chatterley's Lover at about the age that most of my friends were reading Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, which didn't interest me because the word "God" in the title was enough to turn off my atheist self at that age. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Everything I needed to know about growing up I learned from Judy Blume. My mother certainly wasn't talking to me about my period, blubber, the back brace I had to wear. Is it great literature? No. Did the books help me through those tumultuous years? Yes. My soon to be 12 year old has read them all starting when she was 10 and enjoyed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I still have the boxed set of Judy Blume books I was given when I was around 12. I had already read a few of them by that point. My oldest read them around 12 or 13 and I will give them to my youngest to read when she is about that age. I did not read the "adult" Judy Blume books until I was in my late teens, I don't think my oldest ever read them. I didn't find much redeeming about those ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I think there's not much controversial in her younger kid books. The Santa thing is a non-issue to me. The Fudge books are just cute. They're decent children's literature. Her pre-teen and teen books are more of a mixed bag to me. Some of them, like Are You There, God... are really good I think. Some parents on this board may not like the message in it, but I think it captures a lot of the at sea feeling about so many issues that kids that age experience. While it's slightly younger, I also really like Starring Sally J Friedman. Others, like Blubber, are just kind of weird. And all of them feel outdated to today's audiences. Remember how Margaret has to get the weird old menstrual belt thing? That was even outdated when I read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge? Absolutely! I didn't read any of her others, but I loved those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 My boys love Fudge and we've been on a recent Fudge audiobook streak. The things about how babies being made is just that Fudge's Mom tells him how babies are made when she is pregnant with their little sister. The books don't elaborate more than that Fudge is told and that Peter thinks that his Mom shouldn't have told him. It also mentions a couple of instances of Fudge saying to people that he knows how babies are made. It's not a huge plot point and my boys have both heard it many times without really inquiring further. I was a big Judy Blume fan as a kid. I'm fine with reading the Fudge books now. I'm fine with the others too, although I think they are too young now (and too young to find them interesting). The only problem we've had with Fudge is that my 5 year old identifies a little too strongly with him and we had to explain that he may not be the best role model. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 My little guy has listened to all the Fudge books on CD. We haven't read "Tales..." yet. We won't be reading the books aimed at pre-teen/teen girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulubelle Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 That's great if the books helped you in your youth, but for me I do not recall feeling that way. I think I found them exciting and controversial and that intrigued me. I do remember a girl in grade school reading Island of the Blue Dolphin's, while I was reading Judy Blume. I was just not on her kind of 'level'. I think of Judy Blume as being more pop culture. I was very pop culture. And, now, as a mother, when I see the vast amount of books that are out there for my kids to read I know there is better literature out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Thanks everyone. It doesn't sound like we are missing anything by not reading them, so for now, we'll pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmitchell Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Fudge and Superfudge were all right. I loved Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself when I was a child. I did NOT like some of the others (Are You There, God...is the first one that comes to mind). I bought Sally J., but Ariel will probably be 10 or 11 before I let her read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Well, I read Deenie when I was a teenager because I heard whispers it was about masturbation. You know, I read that book and never figured it out. Very disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairyMom Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Yes, I loved all of them as a kid; however, "Forever" is not for young eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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