Anyone who has sisters or brothers or knows someone who has sisters or brothers is familiar with sibling rivalry. Sibling rivalry constitutes the fighting that goes on between siblings including, but not limited to, jealousy and competition. The siblings in Judy Blume’s “The Pain and the Great One” definitely demonstrate this so-called family tradition.
“The Pain and the Great One” tells about an eight-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy who are siblings. In this book, they each tell their side of the story. When describing each other, the little boy calls his older sister The Great One and the girl calls her little brother The Pain. I am sure that anyone who is a sibling can empathize.
THe book is divided into two sections, The Pain and The Great One. In the first section, the girl describes all of the reasons why she thinks her brother is a pain, whether he takes too long to get ready for school or he gets his dessert even when he does not finish his dinner. She thinks that her parents love him more. In the second section, the little boy rants that he does not understand why his parents think that sister is so great. He especially does not understand it when she calls him a baby, which he uses to justify spitting at her and pulling her hair.
Of course my parents gave this book to me when I was a little girl to try and help me understand that there are two sides to every story. At six I understood so much of what The Pain expressed. I used to feel the same way about many things that The Pain described of The Great One. Now that I am twenty-five and my sister is thirty, I can understand more of The Great One’s views of The Pain. I look at the book and think, “Yeah, I used to do that. Man, I was a pain!” It is quite interesting to see the way that we mature as we get older. My sister and I are best friends now.
“The Pain and the Great One” is a fantastic book to give to any sibling. It is a great book to read together as a family to facilitate discussion between or among siblings. As my parents used this as a way to teach me that fighting between siblings is normal, you might also use this to teach your child that sibling rivalry is a part of life.
For more information, please visit Judy Blume’s website.
“The Pain and the Great One” is available at major booksellers, including Amazon and Borders.