Freckle Juice
 First edition | |
| Author | Judy Blume |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Sonia O. Lisker |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Four Winds Press |
Publication date | 1971 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 47 pp |
| ISBN | 0-440-42813-0 |
| OCLC | 16245047 |
| LC Class | MLCS 2006/13892 (P) |
Freckle Juice (ISBN 0-440-42813-0) is a 1971 children's chapter book by Judy Blume with illustrations by Sonia O. Lisker. It is about a second grade student who wants to have freckles.[1]
Summary
[edit]Andrew Marcus envies his classmate Nicky Lane for his freckles. His classmate Sharon sells Andrew a handwritten recipe for "freckle juice" that, when drank, will cause freckles to sprout, claiming it had created the few freckles on her nose.
Andrew returns home and, following the recipe, creates the freckle juice from mixing grape juice and other condiments. Andrew reluctantly drinks the finished, putrid-tasting concoction and becomes sick. When his mother returns home to find Andrew sick and evidence of the freckle juice, she reprimands him and sends him to bed with medicine. That night, Andrew has a nightmare about a monster, resembling Sharon, who force feeds Andrew gallons of "freckle juice," and gets the freckles, rather than Andrew. Andrew stays home from school the next day and recovers the day after.
Realizing that Sharon swindled him, Andrew dots his face and neck with a blue magic marker (unable to find a brown one) to prove the "freckle juice" had worked before arriving at school. No one is fooled by his drawn-on freckles and laughs at him. After recess, his teacher Miss Kelly sends him to the restroom with her own "secret formula" for removing freckles, which is a bar of lemon-scented soap. Andrew washes his "freckles" off and returns to class, where Miss Kelly tells him that he is a very handsome boy without freckles. Nicky then asks Miss Kelly for the freckle remover, claiming that he hates his freckles, but she tells him they did not look right on Andrew, but that he looks wonderful with them. The story ends with Sharon trying to sell Nicky a recipe that removes freckles.
Reviews
[edit] |
"This convincing small boy adventure proceeds smoothly to a satisfying conclusion. The conniving little girl, understanding teacher, and feckless, freckleless boy are amusingly depicted in the impish black-and-white illustrations and in the story which is especially suited for reading aloud to second-and third-graders." —Library Journal
"Spontaneous humor, sure to appeal to the youngest reader. The amusing sketches and the well-spaced type make an inviting volume." —The Horn Book Magazine
References
[edit]- ^ Woodson, Leland (12 December 1971). "Ages 7-10 Will Like This Tale". The Bradenton Herald. p. 7. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
