Barbara Park was an American author of children’s books, best known for her Junie B Jones series – chapter books about a smart-mouthed kindergarten girl with an ungrammatical opinion of everybody, irrespective of who they are.
Starting in 1992, Barbara wrote more than 30 illustrated stories in the Junie B series. Junie was stuck in kindergarten for years before Barbara advanced her to the next class, starting with Book 18, “Junie B., First Grader (at last!).”
Parents and educators occasionally objected to Junie’s personalized language and cheeky ways, worrying that she was a bad influence on her fans. The series sometimes appeared on the American Library Association’s list of “challenged” books. Even though, the series was consistently a #1 New York Times bestseller, spending over 180 weeks on the list, and Barbara and her books were profiled in such national outlets as Time, Newsweek, USA Today, The New York Times, and Today. Her books have also been translated into multiple languages.
Besides the Junie B. Jones series, Barbara Park also wrote picture books like Ma! There’s Nothing to Do Here!, novels for middle school students such as Skinnybones, The Kid in the Red Jacket, Mick Harte Was Here, and The Graduation of Jake Moon, and even a Hallmark greeting card. Barbara won more than forty children’s book awards, including several Children’s Choice Awards.
Her Junie B Jones series was adapted into a popular musical theater production.
Barbara Park actually planned to become a teacher, but after a year of being a student teacher for seventh-graders, she was convinced that any further classroom experiences should be confined to paper.
Park passed away on Friday, November 15, 2013 after fighting ovarian cancer heroically for seven and a half years. Before her death, she helped found a charitable organization (all-volunteer organization), Sisters in Survival (SIS), to raise money for women with ovarian cancer.
Throughout her life, Barbara was passionate about supporting many causes. She was a “wish” for several children participating in the Make-a-Wish Foundation and would dedicate her upcoming books to kids whose dying wish was to meet her.
