Laugh yourself silly with Junie B. Jones

Meet my bestest real-life friends, Barbara Park and Denise Brunkus! You will L-O-V-E them, I tell you!

Author
Illustrator

Denise Brunkus is a children's book illustrator. She has illustrated more than 60 books, including the Junie B. Jones series and Read All About It! by Laura and Jenna Bush. Here Denise gives us a behind-the-scenes glimpse of her work, including art from her childhood and early Junie B. Jones sketches.

Denise Brunkus in first grade — This is me in **first grade** (toothless wonder). My hair **STILL** does that whoopy thing on the left side. Attractive.

1st Grade Art — I always liked to draw. This is some art I did in **first grade**.

Puppet and doll and Barbie clothes — Puppet and doll AND Barbie clothes that I made as a kid. (P.S. Barbie and I share the same birthday—**March 9**.)

Flamingo — When I had to do the sketch for pages 22–23 in Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket, I needed to show Junie B. and her classmates with their **farm drawings**. I had no idea how a kindergartner would draw a flamingo, let alone a rooster trapped under a fallen tree. So I hired my five-year-old niece to help me. Her drawings provided the **perfect inspiration** I needed to get the illustration done.

Rooster — When I had to do the sketch for pages 22–23 in Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket, I needed to show Junie B. and her classmates with their **farm drawings**. I had no idea how a kindergartner would draw a flamingo, let alone a rooster trapped under a fallen tree. So I hired my five-year-old niece to help me. Her drawings provided the **perfect inspiration** I needed to get the illustration done.

Junie and Monster Illustration — Here’s the **series of sketches** that I did as we worked our way to getting a cover for Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed.