JUNIE B. JONES AND A LITTLE MONKEY BUSINESS

The fractious kindergartener of Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (p. 993) has a new baby brother her grandma calls ``the cutest little monkey!'' Junie hasn't seen him yet, but she has told the kids in her class that he's ``A REAL, ALIVE, BABY MONKEY,'' and she's taking bids from her ``bestest'' friends for the first look. So far she's got Lucille's locket, Grace's ring, Lucille's red sweater, Grace's hightops, and Lucille's red chair. But when Junie tries to turn in the extra snack tickets that she's also extorted, she finds herself in the principal's office. Kids who like literal- minded Amelia Bedelia's linguistic misadventures will probably enjoy Junie's. Occasional sophisticated words (``confiscate''; ``beauteous'') and Junie's nongrammatical speech may challenge new readers; if so, this may work best as a readaloud for Junie's contemporaries. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 6-8)