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170th out of 665 books
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417 voters
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The Pain and the Great One (The Pain and the Great One)
An eight-year-old girl, "The Great One," and her six-year-old brother, "The Pain," state their cases about each other and who is best loved by their parents
An IRA-CBC Children's Choice.
An IRA-CBC Children's Choice.
Paperback, 32 pages
Published
August 1st 1985
by Dragonfly Books
(first published 1984)
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We recently read Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One and liked it and saw that this was a picture book about the brother and sister. We just had to read it. I love that the children are 6 and 8 and in first and third grade. That's exactly where our girls are in age and school, so they can really relate to these two characters (even if one of them is a boy.)
This is a fun book about siblings. Each has a perspective on life in the family and each one believes that Mom ...more
This is a fun book about siblings. Each has a perspective on life in the family and each one believes that Mom ...more
The joys of sisterhood when you have younger brother who absolutely gets on your nerves. In this story the main character has named her younger brother The Pain because he gets away with all types of things that mom and dad would not let her get away with and he is destructive. On the other end the younger brother names his sister The Great One because mom and dad believes that she is really smart and she gets to be responsible for things around the house. Many young readers with siblings wil...more
What a cute book! This is a book that any brother and sister could relate to. Although this is a fun read-aloud, it is also a great book for teaching about point of view. This story is first told from the sister's point of view about her brother (the pain), and the second part of the book is told from the brother's point of view about his sister (the great one). This format is excellent for showing students that someone's point of view is their opinion or thoughts about a topic. I have not seen ...more
This book is simply hilarious. It is well written and will have students up out of their seat agreeing that siblings are truly a pain! I couldnt contain my students as I read each page and asked them to make text to self connections. Each of them had a story about how their sibling really gets on their nerve! This story is split into two parts, children can exploreJudy Bloom and her writing style and see if this separation is unique to the way in which she writes. Students can write their own ve...more
One of the great gifts of Judy Blume is that she doesn't lie to kids. Her books are refreshingly - and sometimes painfully - honest. As a kid, I sure appreciated it. Too many books lie, because they think children can't hear the truth. They ignore the fact that children already *know* the truth many times.
The truth in this book is that sometimes, having a brother or sister just sucks. The lie that most people would try to give is the moral that you really, deep down have to love your...more
The truth in this book is that sometimes, having a brother or sister just sucks. The lie that most people would try to give is the moral that you really, deep down have to love your...more
This is one of my all time favorite books. It's a picture book and great for siblings. My mother bought it for me and my brother when we were younger. It expresses the viewpoints of a sister and then midway through the book it shows the brothers viewpoints. The sister believes that her parents love the brother more and vis versa for the brother. It shows children that they should look at the big picture when it comes to attention. How some people may see someone might be different then what you ...more
This would be a good book to compare and contrast. Basically, these two siblings are jealous of each other and express their complaints about how their parents like the other one better. It would be a good chance to compare these two and their different takes on the same situation and asking students if this has ever happened to them or if they have ever thought the same about a sibling or maybe a friend if they don't have siblings.
Judy Blume was a fixture in my childhood, but somehow this book slipped through my radar. Had I seen it when I was a kid, I would have seen my brother and me in it! And I still do! This is a great book to use as a mentor text when taking sides on an issue. It is also a great mentor text for making connections -- because unless you are an only child, we all have stories of sibling rivalry from when we were younger.
This is a good book for children who have siblings. A lot of children are always competing with one another sibling for their parents love. This would be a good discussion opener for students and they could discuss how they shouldn't compete with one another sibling and also the class. A discussion about what a perspective is can come from reading this book. The book is told from the perspective of the sister and brother.
Could Judy Blume have known my little brother and I any better?! He was the pain and I suppose I was the great one. The way the girl described her brother and the preferential treatment was exactly how I felt as a kid towards him. So I know when the little brother was doing the same that it must be how my brother felt about me. Interesting! Blume did a great job with showing both sides!
This first half of this book is from the older sisters' perspective. She talks about all the reasons her brother is such a pain. She does a good job convincing the reader until her brother tells his side of the story in the second half of the book. I use this story along with Patricia Polacco's My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother to teach text-to-text connections.
I often hear students complaining about their siblings. I am hoping this book will help them see the other side of the coin and open their eyes to what they already know--they are equally loved. This will be added to my character building list of reads as it is sure to make its listeners feel good about themselves and others through humor and truth.
My parents went to Japan for ten day during the summer that I turned six. My grandparents came to stay with my brother (who was three years old) and I while our parents were away. For each of the ten days that they would be gone, my mother left a little present for my brother and I. All ten of the presents were in her top dresser drawer. Each afternoon our grandma would let us choose one of the presents to open. One of the gifts was this book. The Pain and the Great One. My mother gave it...more
This book is great for siblings!! This is exactly what my sister and I though of each other growing up. This would be great to talk about different perspectives and how people interpret peoples actions differently. This would be good for middle elementary grades.
Mommy says: What a great book! But when does Judy Blume ever disappoint? This is the same story (Mom and Dad love the other sibling better) told from two different perspectives (the big sister and the little brother). It was spot on for the rivalry that goes on in our house. And it was plenty fun to sit there after the book discussing with both kids who the parents in the book loved more. They both got it right away that the mom and dad loved their kids equally, and they made the jump from the b...more
The Pain = Little brother. The Great One = Big Sister. Funny book from two different points of view on sibling rivalry.
Christine
marked it as to-read
I can't wait until my grandbaby (born 11/30/08) can begin looking at picture books - the earlier the better!!
My daughter wanted to know what the Pain looked like so we read this book at the library. :)
I liked it because both of them were pains and both of them were great ones.
I loved this book when I was little. Truely a brother/sister relationship.
I don't like siblings fighting, they do a lot of that in this book.
It was a ok sorta book. Was not my favorite though.
This was a really good sibling book for my son
Super cute book for sibling rivalry.
Great tool to introduce point of view.
Chloe
added it
I liked it.
Typical siblings, the sister thinks her younger brother is a "pain" and the brother doesn't understand why the older sister seems to be such a "great one." A good resource for teaching early elementary students about point-of-view in literature.
*UPDATE* Can't really explain why, but Piper (age 2) LOVES this book. The topic (sibling rivalry) is completely foreign to her, and the illustrations don't seem that appealing to me, but she keeps digging this one out of my...more
*UPDATE* Can't really explain why, but Piper (age 2) LOVES this book. The topic (sibling rivalry) is completely foreign to her, and the illustrations don't seem that appealing to me, but she keeps digging this one out of my...more
Cute
I am a sucker for books that give both sides of the story, different POV. A great book to read aloud to feuding siblings, funny and insightful. Sandy, we need to find this for Aly & Jake.
Judy Blume writes from both perspectives of a big sister and a little brother. "Pain" is the little brother, told by sister; "Great One" is little brother complaining about big sis. Both children think that the other is a great intrusion on his/her life and lists the reasons why.
Great book about sibling rivalry and seeing the other side of the stoy. Any child with a sibling can relate and learn something.
Great book about sibling rivalry and seeing the other side of the stoy. Any child with a sibling can relate and learn something.
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Judy Blume is a popular American author. She has written many novels for children and young adults. Blume received a B.S. degree in Education in 1961 from New York University.
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