The Pain and the Great One

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The Pain and the Great One
AuthorJudy Blume
IllustratorIrene Trivas
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's book
Publication date
1974
Media typePrint

The Pain and the Great One is a children's picture book published in 1974, written by Judy Blume and illustrated by Irene Trivas. This is the only picture book written by Blume, though many of her other novels, notably The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, have interior illustrations.

The book follows the sibling rivalry between a sister and her younger brother. The book is divided into two parts, one told from the viewpoint of each sibling. In the end of each part (both "The Pain's" section and the "Great One's" section), each one ends with the sibling saying, "And Daddy says The Pain/The Great One is just what they always wanted. YUCK! I think they love him/her better than me!". The girl refers to her brother as "The Pain," due to him always being a nuisance for her, while the boy calls his sister "The Great One," a sarcastic nickname based on her thinking herself the better sibling. It is a humorous look at the mixture of emotions shared by young sibling