The Pain and the Great One

Über

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; each one ends with the sibling complaining, "Mom says The Pain/The Great One is what she always wanted. Yuck! I think they love him/her more 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 as the better sibling. It is a humorous look at the mixture of emotions shared by young siblings.