The Pain and the Great One

Cute book. Gives 2 perspectives... one is the older siblings telling the story of the younger and the other is the younger sibling telling about the older. Both kids feel the same about their sibling, as if parent loved the other more.

My kids like this book. They think it's very funny. They are glad they don't feel the same sibling rivalry but they see it with their friends all the time.

I LOVE this book. I read it as a kid and have been waiting until just the right time to present it to my children. It is a story about a brother and a sister who think that their parents love the other one more. It is written in such a clever way that shows that each kid is annoyed by the other one but is always board when they don't have their sibling around to play with and that their parents actually love both of them. I say that it should be read at an appropriate time because sibling rivalry can be a very sensitive subject. My kids would not have seen this book in the positive light it was intended if I read it to them a year ago because they were just not getting along well at all for a very long time. But now they have begun enjoying one another's company more often then not. So I thought it the perfect time to pull it out, they thought it was hilarious.I think the next time they are having sibling rivalry issues it will help them look at the situation in a better perspective.

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 sibling after all - right?Well, Ms. Blume skirts very *close* to that moral, when each child realizes midway through a rant that getting a special privilege without their sibling isn't any fun, and, indeed, their parents try to push that moral on them - but no, that "no fun" bit is just another reason why their sibling is awful! And the next day they remembered, not the moral, but the rivalry.Each child's rant about their brother/sister ends with the thought that maybe their parents like the other one best. I think we've all felt that. I did just last week, and I'm an adult :) There's no reassurance here except the other sibling saying the same thing.If you're uncomfortable with this sort of presentation of facts, I'd suggest you borrow the book from the library before buying. Otherwise, I firmly suggest you buy this book for your own library.

I really loved this book and how we all see different perspectives! I highly recommend this book for anyone with children

Great book for raising kids

I love the concept of this book. It helped introduce my children (all very close in age) to try and see things through each other's eyes.

Perfect length and made my kiddo laugh. Writing the review was mostly a breeze. We even re-created one of the scenes from the book as our visual.

Fantastic, amazing. My favourite bit is when the Pain scares the Great One with his wolf surfing mask. They get up to lots of interesting things, it's really exciting! Judy Blume is a really great author, and I like all her books I've read so far.

My children loved it

item as advertised. prompt delivery

nice book to add to her collection

My 7 year old daughter really enjoyed this book, although I think it may be a little too young for her as she read it in about 20 minutes.