Many of the themes will sound familiar, like The Pain's sudden fear of barbers, and The Great One's solution of making cardboard ears to protect his real ears. Abigail's concern over not being able to ride her bike, when all her friends ride bikes is the subject of more than one chapter and the solution to the problem is realistic. Jacob is called upon to be a dog-sitter and doggy breath is high on his list of disgusting things; doggie bath time is hilarious. Then when Jake gets sick and it impacts Abigail's half-year birthday party sleep over, the conflict goes into high gear.

Judy Blume always makes everyday things fun to read about, and the characters are easy for kids to relate to. The pen and ink illustrations of James Stevenson give the stories great visual impact. Kids will enjoy reading about The Pain and The Great One over and over again, and the themes in the stories will supply lots of subject matter for family discussion. These stories are good to read aloud at bedtime to younger kids, or for independent reading for second or third graders.