Junie B. First Grader Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May)

Junie B. First Grader Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May) by Barbara Park

For our nightly ritual of reading aloud, Alexis picked this Junie B. First Grader book.  Junie B. and her classmate May just do not get along well together. They love to bicker and argue back and forth, while disrupting Mr. Scary's first grade classroom. It is the season of goodwill and Mr. Scary's first grade class must pick names for their Secret Santa gift. When Mr. Scary reaches Junie B., there is only one name left, and that name is May! Junie B. is shocked and angry because she does not want to buy a gift for that dumb old May. Mr. Scary tells Junie B. that doing good for someone you dislike is the truest form of goodwill. 

At the secret Santa Shop, Junie B. spies a Burp In A Bag on the $5 table. She really really wants to buy the Burp In A Bag for herself but she does not have enough money. Junie B.'s parent already gave her $5, but that money is just enough to buy each person in her family a gift at $1 each. Junie B. talks her grampa Miller into giving her another $5, so now she has enough to get the Burp In A Bag. But what about May's gift? She still needs $1 more but no one will give Junie B. any more money, so Junie B. decides that she will give May a piece of charcoal for her Christmas gift. 

May is getting more and more excited as Christmas approaches and cannot wait until the class exchanges their Secret Santa gifts. May tells Junie B. there is nothing she can do that will ruin this day for her. Junie B. sees how happy May is and wonders how May will react when she sees the coal in her gift bag. Is Junie B. feeling guilty? It is time to exchange gifts and Junie B. panics, has she made the right decision?

So far, this has been my favorite Junie B. story.