Blooming glory

An author who gave us hours of joy through her Fudge series and many more. Judy Blume’s books encouraged readers to think.

Judy Blume

Nine-year-old Peter Hatcher finds his two-year-old brother Fudge annoying. What maddens him is the fact that Fudge’s atrocious behaviour goes unpunished. And, to further irritate Peter, Fudge is given to throwing temper tantrums, and for some unexplained reason, does not eat. But, the final straw is when he tries to copy Peter! His parents think everything Fudge does is ultra-cute and fascinating.

The Fudge series begins with the book Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing and is followed by Superfudge , Fuge-a-Mania and Double Fudge . Written by Judy Blume, it chronicles the life in Peter’s house and the antics of Fudge. There is a never a dull moment.

Freckle Juice is another book that is highly entertaining. It is a story about Andrew Marcus, a second grade student, who wants to look like Nicky Lane because he has freckles….86 of them, as Andrew found out! Blume has written many more books for children, including

The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo , her first published work.

Reading it write

Judy Blume was born on February 12, 1938 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the U.S. Her father was a dentist and her mother, a home maker. Of her childhood, she says, “I spent most of childhood making up stories inside of my head.” Her greatest passion was reading.

She began to write when her children were attending preschool. That was when she published her first book

The One in the Middle … In the next ten years, she went on to publish 13 more books. But, she did not stop with writing only for children. She decided to write for young adults and adults too.

Her writing has won her more than 90 literary awards, including three lifetime achievement awards in the U.S. In April 2000, the Library of Congress included her name to its list of Living Legends in the Writers and Artists category for her significant contribution to American cultural heritage.

But she did not confine her zeal and effort to writing alone. She made great strides in trying to uphold intellectual freedom. She was in the centre of an organised book banning campaign in the 1980s. She began to reach out to other writers, teachers and librarians who were under fire. She is the founder-trustee of a charitable and education foundation called “The Kids Fund”, that encourages communication between parents and children.

Blume has two children, Randy and Lawrence. Her second child Lawrence was the inspiration for her Fudge books. While Randy is a therapist, Lawrence is a filmmaker.

What is different about Blume’s stories is that she never shied away from issues like racism, divorce, bullying and so on. She used her stories to encourage discussion and more understanding among her readers.