Customer Reviews

Freckle Juice

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The following reviews were written by four 7-year-olds in aclassroom book club I led. We studied reviews from Amazon.com beforethey wrote theirs to see how there can be many different opinions on one title:

Rachel says: This book is about a boy named Andrew Marcus and how he wants freckles. I think it is funny because when he gets sick and his mother sends him to bed, she gives him two spoonfuls of stuff that tasted like peppermint and he dreams that a monster makes him drink two quarts of freckle juice three times a day. I would recommend this book to a friend because it is funny.

David says: This book is about a boy named Andrew Marcus and how he want freckles. I like this book better than The One In The Middle Is The Green Kangaroo, also by Judy Blume, because it was more fun to read and I like the story better. I recommend a friend read this book.

Ashleigh says: This book is about Andrew wanting freckles like Nicky Lane. I think this book is very funny because I like drawing freckles on my face. I want everyone to have this book.

Annie says: Andrew Marcus wanted freckles like Nicky Lane. He put freckles on with a magic marker but his teacher, Miss Kelly, gave him soap and told him he was good without freckles. I don't encourage yo to buy this book with your money because it is not a good story. If you want to see what I mean, check it out at the library.

This book is interesting because Nicky has freckles and Andrew wants them. He wants them so he doesn't have to take a bath or wash his neck. Andrew asks Sharon for the secret recipe for freckle juice. Read this story to find out what happens. I am in second grade, and I felt that it was interesting and funny. I would read this book again.

Judy Blume's "Freckle Juice" is a short tale for young readers, with illustrations by Sonia O. Lisker. Blume tells the story of Andrew Marcus, a 2nd grade student who wishes he had freckles. Things get freaky when a classmate promises to sell him a "secret recipe for freckle juice."

Blume taps effectively into the culture of children's folk magic and urban legend with this tale. I was a bit turned off, however, by Blume's portrayal of Andrew's shrewish, hysterical, overbearing mother. After finishing the book, I thought, "When this kid grows up, he's going to have some serious issues with women!" I also didn't like the fact that the "villain" of the story essentially lies, swindles, and violates classroom discipline and suffers no consequences. Still, "Freckle Juice" is a fun story with a memorable "gross-out" factor.

See story summary above.

Wonderful story about a grade school boy who desperately wants to look like someone else, and in the end learns to love himself just the way he is. Wonderful way for children to learn respect and self-esteem.

Should be required reading for grades K-3.

The first time I read this book, I was in Elementary, and had lots of freckles. I loved it. It was really funny when he drank the "freckle juice" and also when he wrote freckles on his face. I loved the end....well, read it yourself!

Andrew is a young boy dissatisfied with his appearance. Specifically, he is jealous of Nicky because he has freckles, lots of freckles. Andrew thinks that his appearance would be perfect if only he had freckles like Nicky's and he will do anything to get them. Sharon is a devious girl in his class who acts like she knows everything. She is aware of Andrew's desire for freckles, so she offers to sell Andrew her secret formula for getting freckles.
Andrew pays Sharon and is given a recipe for a gross concoction containing among other things, ketchup, onions, vinegar and mustard. Andrew goes home, mixes the ingredients and then drinks it down fast. Shortly after that he gets so ill that he must stay home from school. He then discovers that he did not get a set of freckles, so in order to avoid embarrassment, he uses a marker to make some.
Everyone laughs, so his teacher lets him use her "magic freckle removing liquid." Once the class learns of Andrew's desire for freckles, Nicky then tells everyone that he wants to use the formula so that he can remove his freckles. His desire is to be free of freckles so that he can be more like the other children. At the end, Sharon is offering to sell Nicky her secret formula for removing freckles.
Andrew and Nicky are typical of children in that they think the features of others are better than their features so they have a desire to change. This story is a lesson in that reality of life, so it is a good one for children. A desire for change is sometimes good, but foolish when it is something that cannot be changed. Drastic attempts can lead to dire consequences and there will always be unscrupulous people who will offer you solutions that will not work and that may be dangerous.

I enjoy books for the young ones that give them a good lesson on life and give them a chuckle or laugh while doing it. Be happy with the way you look, be satisfied with yourself and hidden in that message is one that well shows there are no free lunches in life. the 1971 edition I have has some very well done black and white drawings which are quite charming themselves. This is a great book to read to a class as it creates much discussion and allows the children to relate their own wishes and discuss them. This is one of those books that I hope does not go out of print as it has a timeless quality about it. Highly recommend.

Freckle Juice was a great book to read.I enjoyed reading this book because I like funny books.My brother and mother loved this book because it was a very creative book.My dad has never read this book.I want to read this book agian because I love this book so much I would want to read a gazillion times more!!One day I might have freckles.Some of my friends have them.I hope I get to write a story about freckles.

THE END
By:Emily DeRouen Lake Charles,LA
8 years old

I remember reading this when I was a kid and when I saw it on my seven year old's summer reading list, I had to buy it for him.

We have been reading the book together and we have BOTH been giggling over it. My son teases me because I have a lot of freckles -- he thought I drank some freckle juice! LOL!

Judy Blume's books are just as good as I remember them.

Freckle Juice by Judy Blume is a fantastic book for everybody to read. It is about a boy named Andrew who really wants freckles like Nick. So Susan says she will give Andrew a recipe for getting freckles, which costs 50 cents. The recipe has a lot of nasty stuff like vinegar, onion juice, ketchup, and lemon juice etc. It is also disgusting at the same time. At the end of the book Andrew learns his lesson, which is don't believe everything will work. I hope you read this book.