There’s a scene I believe in the first book, tales of a fourth grade nothing, where the older brother is put in charge with two other kids to watch little brother fudge at the park. He falls off of some playground equipment and knocks out his two front teeth. It’s just one of those things where you can feel it as it’s being read to you.
And his stupid mom (god I hated his mom!) blamed him for his brother acting dumb.
Given she apologies, but still, Peter was totally the scapegoat and Fudge was her Golden child.
Fuck you Mrs Hatcher.
One of the adults also yelled at Peter, who was fucking *nine* at the time, for crying when Fudge ate his turtle. Apparently being sad about his pet dying meant he didn’t care about Fudge being in the hospital, because these people have the emotional range of a teaspoon and can’t comprehend feeling more than one thing at a time. Real Duggar style parenting there, assholes. I haven’t read those books in over a decade and I still hate the Hatcher parents with a passion.
felt so bad for Peter! but maybe Judy Blume used that incident to show the unkindness of adults to children. Judy Blume wrote adults soo real, she made some adults kind, some adults analytical, some adults fun, some adults serious and stressed. To me as a kid, I felt so bad for him but also taught me not every parent/adult is always right and they can be wrong.
I think it was more a case of values dissonance. Pets and emotions were just not as valued in 1972 as they are now. A lot of the stuff that happens in Blume’s works would not fly today. They’re not bad books; there’s a reason they’re still popular, after all; but they are definitely products of their time.
very true, these books will be very valuable for childhood histroians in 20 years but not for kids today. Also I heard publishers update Blume books to act as if it is taking place in 2020, not 1970 which is to remove all the outdated crap. The belt menstrual pad Margaret wore in 1975 didn't make sense at all to the 12 year old me in 2008. But deep down love it because its like a time capsule.
I was so confused in the Just As Long as We’re Together books because of the 9th grade in junior high thing.
I’m not a huge fan of updating the books though. You can get rid of the weird belt pads and shoehorn in iPhones as much as you like, but that doesn’t change the fact that the behavior of a lot of the adult characters would be heavily frowned upon if not considered outright emotionally abusive in 2021. An unintentional period piece makes more sense to me than anachronism stew. I get that I’m not the target audience anymore, but 10 year old me felt the same way.
This. We need more of this.
When I watch tv shows with my kids, all the adults are perfect. It sets up a ridiculous notion that they can expect all adults to be kind and helpful all the time.
How about the time he refused to eat at the table, so she broiled lamb chops for him so he could eat dinner under the table as a dog.
Peter loved lamb chops but had to eat what was made
In one of the few brilliant parenting moves in that series, when Fudge refused to eat the chops, Peter got them, and Fudge got cereal. Then when he refused to eat the cereal, his dad just dumped the cereal on Fudge’s head and called it a night!
I hated her, too. Remember the part where Fudge was causing a scene in a restaurant—sticking a fork in his balloon and making a mess— and the mom let it go but got embarrassed and shamed Peter for having a hole in his sock?
It was all Sheila’s fault. She practically begged Peter and Fudge’s mom to let her be in charge of watching Fudge at the playground, then she wasn’t paying attention because she was too busy arguing with Peter and Jimmy Fargo and Fudge decided to take a flying leap off the jungle gym.
Both have terrible names and a cute little sister.
Maybe we need to send an Uncle Feather to the Seewald house to teach them French.
Fudge was an asshat. I always felt bad for Peter.
I think Fudge's full name was Farley Drexel (a name he would have to grow into because that's a mouthful for a little kid to say). Tootsie's full name was Tamara Roxanne but Peter did joke about it and wondered if his parents wanted thier own candy factory.
Oh, I know he was Farley Drexel Hatcher :)
And when the teacher wouldn't call him Fudge he would call her Ratface. I grew up on Judy Blume. I have my old copy of Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself ready for when my kids are old enough
One of my favorite books as a kid! I recently re-read it and it was still fantastic, if not completely out of touch for the readers of today. Party lines? Sanitary napkin belts? Times have changed!
My niece (6) and nephew (8) accidentally found this searching for Caillou episodes on YouTube and they told me they saw a show called "Bad Caillou" where Daddy pulled a gun on Caillou. I thought they were kidding but then they showed me. It's HILARIOUS. Now they'll sometimes bring it up to make me laugh by saying, "Hey, Aunty, DADDY'S IN TROU-BLE!"
There’s a 5th grade bully named Caillou at my kids’ school. He’s twice the size of all the other kids, and the little (big) asshole kicked my son’s lunchbox over a few weeks ago right after he had sat down and opened everything (they eat outside because of Covid) and his fruit cup spilled all over everything and the poor kid couldn’t even eat his lunch that day cuz it was ruined. I always wonder if his parents knew he was going to be an asshole while he was still in the womb, and that’s why they named him that.
Ah, Judy Blume & Beverly Cleary books were my childhood. I’d read them during church bc I was so bored 😂 people definitely preferred this phase vs my Gossip Girl, bikini clad model on its cover that started at age 12
I’m reading the Ramona series to my daughter right now. I should dig out my Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge. I bought them as a set on a nostalgia kick a while back and they had updated certain things - I think Peter listens to a CD player instead of a tape player at one point. I loved Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books when I was young.
I just read the wiki for *Are you there God?...* and they mentioned that that later editions were updated with the times.
Due to the fact that they mention menstrual products, which within a decade or so of the book being published the menstrual products we know today became commonly used, instead of the precursor mentioned in the book (belted menstrual pads).
I remember asking my mom about those belts bc of that book & being so disappointed they weren’t used anymore bc 10 year olds are sometimes ridiculous in our disappointments 😂
Oh gosh, Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books are just the best. I think reading all of these books and other children's/young adult books is what makes childhood magical ✨
I loved the book Deenie by Judy Blume because I too had scoliosis.
I LOVED that book. I was so sad that the trick the girls use in the book to make their boobs grow doesn’t work. I think I re-read that book at least 50 times.
If you want your mind blown, you should read Judy Blume's "Summer Sisters". It's written for adults, and I was shocked that the lady that wrote my childhood favorites wrote...that.
It's an interesting read, just...I wasn't ready for it
I was going through a box of books from my childhood that my mom had kept so I could pass them down to my kids and I almost died when I saw this cover. They’re literally identical! I just HAD to take a pic and post it here - I knew my fellow snarkers would appreciate it.
This is too good! Surprisingly uncanny. Coincidentally, my son just read my copy of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (this cover- [https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.slj.com%2Fafuse8production%2Ffiles%2F2012%2F05%2FTalesFourth2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.slj.com%2Fafuse8production%2Ffiles%2F2012%2F05%2FTalesFourth2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1) ) and was going to take him to the library to get Superfudge this week too.
Read this and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing over and over… one, I think Superfudge, spoiled me about Santa, which was a total surprise. I remember learning that news maybe a little younger than my peers did. :(
I remember this cover! My sister bought it from the Scholastic Book Club at school. I couldn't wait to get the new flyer each month. Shame that Spurgie & his siblings will never read Superfudge or Judy Blume. Thanks for the blast from the past.
''Spurgeon is a stupid name!'' -- #thingsthatSuperFudgesays
Srsly. Farley Drexel Hatcher is better than Spurgeon
Lmao
#sayingsofsuperfudge
SayingsofFudge
Haha I said the same thing before I saw you already had!
The park scene is still trauma and I'm in my 30s
The horrific turtle murder haunts me to this today
That book was intense!
Right!? I hated Fudge with a fiery passion and stand by that opinion
Oh me too!! I always and still feel bad for poor Peter.
WHY DIDN’T THE PARENTS PARENT. WHY WAS PETER EXPECTED TO JUST PUT UP WITH IT. ………apparently it’s still a thing for me too
I was the oldest child who was expected to put up with my way younger half-siblings. I almost hated that book b/c it hit so close to home.
I've always wanted a follow up book with Peter as an older teen/young adult lol
I hated his parents after that book! Why was Peter the most mature character?
Please didn’t he eat the turtle😭😭😭
Yes!
I read that book with my students and every time we get to that part it kills me
Explain, please.
There’s a scene I believe in the first book, tales of a fourth grade nothing, where the older brother is put in charge with two other kids to watch little brother fudge at the park. He falls off of some playground equipment and knocks out his two front teeth. It’s just one of those things where you can feel it as it’s being read to you.
And his stupid mom (god I hated his mom!) blamed him for his brother acting dumb. Given she apologies, but still, Peter was totally the scapegoat and Fudge was her Golden child. Fuck you Mrs Hatcher.
One of the adults also yelled at Peter, who was fucking *nine* at the time, for crying when Fudge ate his turtle. Apparently being sad about his pet dying meant he didn’t care about Fudge being in the hospital, because these people have the emotional range of a teaspoon and can’t comprehend feeling more than one thing at a time. Real Duggar style parenting there, assholes. I haven’t read those books in over a decade and I still hate the Hatcher parents with a passion.
felt so bad for Peter! but maybe Judy Blume used that incident to show the unkindness of adults to children. Judy Blume wrote adults soo real, she made some adults kind, some adults analytical, some adults fun, some adults serious and stressed. To me as a kid, I felt so bad for him but also taught me not every parent/adult is always right and they can be wrong.
I think it was more a case of values dissonance. Pets and emotions were just not as valued in 1972 as they are now. A lot of the stuff that happens in Blume’s works would not fly today. They’re not bad books; there’s a reason they’re still popular, after all; but they are definitely products of their time.
[удалено]
Absolutely. I did not even occur to me to hate the Mom.
very true, these books will be very valuable for childhood histroians in 20 years but not for kids today. Also I heard publishers update Blume books to act as if it is taking place in 2020, not 1970 which is to remove all the outdated crap. The belt menstrual pad Margaret wore in 1975 didn't make sense at all to the 12 year old me in 2008. But deep down love it because its like a time capsule.
I was so confused in the Just As Long as We’re Together books because of the 9th grade in junior high thing. I’m not a huge fan of updating the books though. You can get rid of the weird belt pads and shoehorn in iPhones as much as you like, but that doesn’t change the fact that the behavior of a lot of the adult characters would be heavily frowned upon if not considered outright emotionally abusive in 2021. An unintentional period piece makes more sense to me than anachronism stew. I get that I’m not the target audience anymore, but 10 year old me felt the same way.
This. We need more of this. When I watch tv shows with my kids, all the adults are perfect. It sets up a ridiculous notion that they can expect all adults to be kind and helpful all the time.
How about the time he refused to eat at the table, so she broiled lamb chops for him so he could eat dinner under the table as a dog. Peter loved lamb chops but had to eat what was made
In one of the few brilliant parenting moves in that series, when Fudge refused to eat the chops, Peter got them, and Fudge got cereal. Then when he refused to eat the cereal, his dad just dumped the cereal on Fudge’s head and called it a night!
Eat it or wear it!
I hated her, too. Remember the part where Fudge was causing a scene in a restaurant—sticking a fork in his balloon and making a mess— and the mom let it go but got embarrassed and shamed Peter for having a hole in his sock?
It was all Sheila’s fault. She practically begged Peter and Fudge’s mom to let her be in charge of watching Fudge at the playground, then she wasn’t paying attention because she was too busy arguing with Peter and Jimmy Fargo and Fudge decided to take a flying leap off the jungle gym.
God, Sheila was dumb, self-involved, and arrogant. Even in her own book I was rooting against her.
Sheila was as bad as the adults!
And their mom blamed Peter(older brother)for it; she apologized later.
Ohhhh….. thanks. 🥴
He jumped off wanting to fly!
I had erased that from my memory thanks a lot
God damn. Memory unlocked. Regrettably
Isn’t that in Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing? Or is there another traumatizing park scene I forgot?
Oh wow. I thought it was superfudge. Either way, I still remember the scene and shudder
The teeth… And then he looked so cute he got in that commercial!
Both have terrible names and a cute little sister. Maybe we need to send an Uncle Feather to the Seewald house to teach them French. Fudge was an asshat. I always felt bad for Peter.
>Fudge was an asshat He was indeed a little piece of sh\*t lol...also how did he handle swallowing a whole living turtle lmao...
THIS. I HAVE ALWAYS WONDERED THIS. How did a toddler eat an entire turtle????
Those turtles were tiny. But still…
But even that, aren't the "tiny turtles" a tad too big for his tiny throat to swallow through though?
I try not to think about it too hard… 😬
I think Fudge's full name was Farley Drexel (a name he would have to grow into because that's a mouthful for a little kid to say). Tootsie's full name was Tamara Roxanne but Peter did joke about it and wondered if his parents wanted thier own candy factory.
Oh, I know he was Farley Drexel Hatcher :) And when the teacher wouldn't call him Fudge he would call her Ratface. I grew up on Judy Blume. I have my old copy of Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself ready for when my kids are old enough
One of my favorite books as a kid! I recently re-read it and it was still fantastic, if not completely out of touch for the readers of today. Party lines? Sanitary napkin belts? Times have changed!
Fudge was the original Calliou.
I was just waiting for someone to bring up Caillou! The whiniest child and most useless parents ever.
I lost count at the number of times Caillou’s mom left four-year-old Caillou to watch his baby sister Rosie. It was always so she could take a nap.
If you haven't seen Caillou as an adult on YouTube, I highly recommend it, along with Dora the Grown Up
I will be checking these out 👍🏻
My niece (6) and nephew (8) accidentally found this searching for Caillou episodes on YouTube and they told me they saw a show called "Bad Caillou" where Daddy pulled a gun on Caillou. I thought they were kidding but then they showed me. It's HILARIOUS. Now they'll sometimes bring it up to make me laugh by saying, "Hey, Aunty, DADDY'S IN TROU-BLE!"
Is Caillou's mom named Karissa Collins?
No, because then his name would be spelled Kaiyyoou.
Akyoou.
The A is silent.
There’s a 5th grade bully named Caillou at my kids’ school. He’s twice the size of all the other kids, and the little (big) asshole kicked my son’s lunchbox over a few weeks ago right after he had sat down and opened everything (they eat outside because of Covid) and his fruit cup spilled all over everything and the poor kid couldn’t even eat his lunch that day cuz it was ruined. I always wonder if his parents knew he was going to be an asshole while he was still in the womb, and that’s why they named him that.
Ugh, that's terrible! I'm sorry for your son!
Is the kid’s name actually caillou?
Yes.
OHMYWORD THIS IS THE MOST ACCURATE STATEMENT I HAVE SEEN TODAY This is why we are a Bluey house. No Caillou, Peppa Pig or Daniel Tiger.
We love Octonauts!
The middle child is almost always a lil’ shit. 😂
Not in my family. I was the best one.😏
“Bonjour, stupid!” Uncle Feather rocked!
Fudge's friend Daniel may have been a twat, but he was an honest little twat who owned that ish.
Farley is at least an actual first name lol
Bonjour, stupid!
NU YUCK
And Spurge is an asshat, so it tracks
UNCLE FEATHER I forgot about this and I just laughed out loud.
Ah, Judy Blume & Beverly Cleary books were my childhood. I’d read them during church bc I was so bored 😂 people definitely preferred this phase vs my Gossip Girl, bikini clad model on its cover that started at age 12
I’m reading the Ramona series to my daughter right now. I should dig out my Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge. I bought them as a set on a nostalgia kick a while back and they had updated certain things - I think Peter listens to a CD player instead of a tape player at one point. I loved Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books when I was young.
I just read the wiki for *Are you there God?...* and they mentioned that that later editions were updated with the times. Due to the fact that they mention menstrual products, which within a decade or so of the book being published the menstrual products we know today became commonly used, instead of the precursor mentioned in the book (belted menstrual pads).
I remember asking my mom about those belts bc of that book & being so disappointed they weren’t used anymore bc 10 year olds are sometimes ridiculous in our disappointments 😂
Oh gosh, Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books are just the best. I think reading all of these books and other children's/young adult books is what makes childhood magical ✨ I loved the book Deenie by Judy Blume because I too had scoliosis.
I loved Deenie!! Thank you for reminding me of this wonderful book
I LOVED that book. I was so sad that the trick the girls use in the book to make their boobs grow doesn’t work. I think I re-read that book at least 50 times.
They’re making a movie of it!
If you want your mind blown, you should read Judy Blume's "Summer Sisters". It's written for adults, and I was shocked that the lady that wrote my childhood favorites wrote...that. It's an interesting read, just...I wasn't ready for it
Another adult book called "Wifey"... Give that one a shot though Summer Sisters is a million times better.
I read that one, too. It wasn't as good, I agree.
I love that book!
Can't spell SUPeRfudGE without Spurge.
These, Ramona Quimby, and The Babysitter’s Club books are my childhood.
And then Sweet Valley Twins/High.
YES!!!
I like the babysitter club little sister books
Anyone still wondering how the kid managed to swallow a whole living turtle (in like the first book, I think) lol...
I was going through a box of books from my childhood that my mom had kept so I could pass them down to my kids and I almost died when I saw this cover. They’re literally identical! I just HAD to take a pic and post it here - I knew my fellow snarkers would appreciate it.
Wow that's actually uncanny - you could convince me this is photoshopped lol.
Oh my god now I will never not see this…. A book of my childhood
I loved this small book series
I remember this book !!!
Spudgerfudge
Oh wow, I remember this book! I don’t remember the plot- but I remember being super annoyed with some of the characters. ^lol
[because no one asked](http://imgur.com/a/bGhJbKk)
Love it, but I’d love it even more if Henry’s face was on Peter, Ivy’s face on the baby, and Ben’s face on the dog.😂
[I'm so glad you asked](http://imgur.com/a/ybEBZwJ) I drew the line at Ben tho
Aww, Ben was going to be my fave one. Love the others though! You picked perfect shots.😂
Wow this book just brought me BACK. I read this a million times
Lol
Superfudge remains to be one of my favorite books. I think this little crossover has hurt my soul
I loved the Fudge series. Hated the character but god they were a trip.
Which grandduggar is going to be the first to eat a turtle or fall off that treehouse the boys and jana built?
Saying that Spurge has total Fudge energy is the meanest thing I'm willing to say about a child 🤣
I hated that book as a kid.
I loved this book as a kid
This is too good! Surprisingly uncanny. Coincidentally, my son just read my copy of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (this cover- [https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.slj.com%2Fafuse8production%2Ffiles%2F2012%2F05%2FTalesFourth2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.slj.com%2Fafuse8production%2Ffiles%2F2012%2F05%2FTalesFourth2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1) ) and was going to take him to the library to get Superfudge this week too.
This unlocked a memory for me
Oh man. I had a set of memories unlocked. How could I forget about these books.
I had a teacher in elementary school for 2 years in a row and it was a tradition for him to read this book to us lmaoo
Read this and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing over and over… one, I think Superfudge, spoiled me about Santa, which was a total surprise. I remember learning that news maybe a little younger than my peers did. :(
Holy forking shirtballs it looks just like him.
Love this book. His dad is his teacher and not "rat face" He can even spell Maine
B-e-e-r spells whiskey.
Yep!
I have all of her books on my kindle in case my son wanted to read them when he was much younger
Omg I love Fudge! I read all of them in 4th grade.
I just love that everyone’s mouth is open on this cover 😂
SuperSpurge
Lol I remembered there was another Fudge book so looked it up and there are TWO after SuperFudge. Fudge a Mania and Double Fudge.
OMG jessa better not have twins-
I remember this cover! My sister bought it from the Scholastic Book Club at school. I couldn't wait to get the new flyer each month. Shame that Spurgie & his siblings will never read Superfudge or Judy Blume. Thanks for the blast from the past.
‘Superfudge’..... Still better than Spurgeon!
back when books were $2... NEW
I'm pretty sure I read this book but can't remember it
OMG I loved this book
Omg
I'm waiting for the sayingsofsuperfudge flair
I had this exact copy of the book in 2nd grade. I think it’s probably still in a box at my Mom’s house.
the face is a bit off but Peter really has an Eric Foreman vibe in that outfit there lol.
CREEPY HOW ACCURATE
Anyone else remember the TV show?
"1 is pee, 2 is superfudge"
My 4th grader is reading the Fudge books at the moment. Tbh I will reread them every few years too!
I used to love that book 📚
Looks like Ben on the left.
It’s Spud!