Kindergarten is just about to let out for the summer, and room 9 is going on a field trip to a farm. All the children squeal with joy--all but Junie B. Jones.

'Cause guess what? Farms are not my favorites.

Junie B. Jones, hilarious heroine of more than a dozen well-loved books, is mortally afraid of ponies. An imprudent babysitter once allowed her to watch a cable TV show called When Ponies Attack, so a trip to a farm seems like the ultimate in reckless endangerment. Never mind the roosters, which, according to her classmate, Meanie Jim, can peck your head to a nub. It takes some pretty fast talking by Junie's parents, teacher, and the farmer himself to get Junie to participate in the field trip, where she has a surprisingly good time. Until she bonds with Peep, a fluffy little chick, only to discover, to her horror, that Peep's destiny is to become a rooster.

Award-winning author Barbara Park has joined with illustrator Denise Brunkus to create a charmingly outrageous character with a precocious yet childish voice that readers will never forget: "After that my heart got very poundy inside. 'Cause I heard the sound of footprints, that's why." Brunkus's comical drawings of Junie and her friends are the "bestest" ever. Don't miss any of the laugh-out-loud titles in the Junie B. Jones series. (Ages 5 to 8) --Emilie Coulter