Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One (Pain & the Great One (Quality)) [Paperback]

Judy Blume (Author), James Stevenson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 2009 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Pain & the Great One (Quality)

MEET THE PAIN:
My sister's name is Abigail. I call her The Great One because she thinks she's so great. Who cares if she's in third grade and I'm just in first?

MEET THE GREAT ONE:
My brother's name is Jacob Edward, but everyone calls him Jake. Everyone but me. I call him The Pain because that's what he is. He's a first-grade pain. I'll always know exactly what he's thinking. That's just the way it is.

These seven warm-hearted stories will give readers a peek at how a brother and sister relate to each other.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The Pain and the Great One first appeared in a 1985 picture book. In this chapter book, they get a fuller treatment that's just right for the audience. First-grader Jake is the Pain, the annoying thorn in the side of the Great One (third-grader Abigail). The short, funny chapters point up the push-pull relationship between the siblings, but sometimes they focus on only one of the characters: Abigail can't ride a bike and worries about it throughout one story; Jake has fun playing with his aunt's visiting dog, despite the canine's serious doggy breath. A more tender side to the relationship comes out in a story in which they both appear. Jake is suddenly afraid of haircuts, so Abigail cuts cardboard covers to protect his ears, even as she denies it's to help him. As one would expect from Blume, the book provides plenty of family-familiar fun, and Stevenson's signature ink artwork boosts the tale with amusing pictures that pull the reader along. Cooper, Ilene --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Starred review, School Library Journal, August 2007:
"[T]he stories are sweet and accurately depict the growing pains of childhood."


From the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Yearling; Reprint edition (January 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044042092X
• ISBN-13: 978-0440420927
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 7.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #369,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( B ) > Blume, Judy

More About the Author

Judy Blume spent her childhood in Elizabeth, NJ, making up stories inside her head. She has spent her adult years in many places, doing the same thing, only now she writes her stories down on paper. Adults as well as children will recognize such Blume titles as: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Superfudge; Blubber; Just As Long As We're Together; and Forever. She has also written the best-selling novels Wifey; Smart Women; and, Summer Sisters. More than 75 million copies of her books have been sold, and her work has been translated into twenty-six languages.
She receives thousands of letters each month from readers of all ages who share their feelings and
concerns with her.
Judy received a B.S. in education from New York University in 1961, which named her a Distinguished Alumna in 1996, the same year that American Library Association honored her with the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. She has won more than ninety awards, none more important than those coming directly from her youngest readers.
She serves on the boards of the Author's Guild, currently as Vice President; the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, where she sponsors an award for contemporary fiction; and the National Coalition Against Censorship, working to protect intellectual freedom. In Spring 2002, Judy was a spokesperson for the Cheerios "A Book for Every Child" literacy campaign which benefited Reading is Fundamental, America's largest literacy organization. She is also the founder and trustee of The Kids Fund, a charitable and educational foundation.
Judy's first book in the Fudge series, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, was published in 1972. She is thrilled to be celebrating its 30th Anniversary with the publication of Double Fudge. Just as generations of fans have loved the Fudge books, generations of Judy's family have inspired them. Thirty years ago, Fudge was inspired by her son, Larry, and now Double Fudge was written at the request of her grandson, Elliot.
Judy lives on islands up and down the East Coast with her husband George Cooper. They have three grown children and one grandchild.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soupy is Super!, September 4, 2007

By 

Daria Snadowsky "young adult author" (Nevada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One (Pain & the Great One) (Hardcover)

Judy Blume demonstrates once again that you don't need witches, fairies, dragons or princesses to create irresistible children's literature that will keep kids, as well as their parents, hungrily turning pages for more. Soupy Saturdays revisits eight-year-old Abigail and six-year-old Jake, two of my favorite Blume characters from her 1985 book The Pain and The Great One, and takes them through a series of daily-life tasks, such as getting haircuts, washing the dog, riding bikes and having sleepovers. But Abigail and Jake turn every seemingly banal event into a lesson-learning adventure: Jake's scared the barber will get too close to his ears with his scissors and cut them off, and Jake doesn't see any problem with using human shampoo on dogs. Meanwhile, Abigail is embarrassed to admit why she's scared to ride bikes, and she's angry at Jake for being home during her much-anticipated sleepover with her girlfriends. Although Abigail and Jake annoy each other at every turn, whether they know it or not, they actually help each other overcome the other's fears and grow closer in the process. They love each other like only siblings can, and any child reading this who has a brother or sister will easily relate to these characters' bouts of resentment, jealousy, and the constant worry that their parents love the other sibling more. The writing itself is perfect for the intended four-to-nine year old target audience--quick and easy to understand but totally hilarious and very vivid. And although nearly every page abounds with delightful illustrations (courtesy of James Stevenson), the physical format of the book is more like a bona fide chapter book than a picture book, which will give younger readers an enormous sense of accomplishment upon finishing it. I loved Soupy Saturdays and can't wait for the rest of the books in the series!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SOUPY SATURDAYS evolves a fun set of brother/sister encounters., October 6, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One (Pain & the Great One) (Hardcover)

Judy Blume's SOUPY SATURDAYS WITH THE PAIN AND THE GREAT ONE offers up seven new stories centered around how brothers and sisters relate to one another. From math woes to parties and bike riding, SOUPY SATURDAYS evolves a fun set of brother/sister encounters.

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!, December 19, 2010

By 

B. E. Escontrias (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One (Pain & the Great One (Quality)) (Paperback)

This is the first time I have read Judy Blume books, and I will most definitly buy some more. I teach 3rd grade bilingual and my students really enjoyed the book. Each morning they were eager to find out what "The Pain" and "The Great One" were up to. I also used this book for narrative writing, as an example of how it sounds and looks like. Overall, great book. The kids can relate to the daily adventures of brothers or sisters.