One of Fudge's friends is a boy named Ralph who's already morbidly obese at 3 years old and weighs so much his mother can't even carry him. If his diet doesn't change, he's going to have serious health problems when he gets older or even die young from obesity-related causes. It also makes ya' wonder how he got that way at such a young age and, if he has medical conditions, are his parents treating them?
Fudge's swallowing of Dribble becomes a lot scarier if you know that the vast majority of turtles, pet ones included, carry salmonella on their skin. Merely passing the reptile wasn't the biggest threat to the toddler's system. This makes Anne's reaction more understandable, since Fudge genuinely could have gotten badly sick and even died.
Fudge liking the terrible "super duper omelet" his father made in the first book, so much so that he cries when his father throws his helping in the trash.
Considering how they usually don't get along, Peter standing up for his little brother against his strict kindergarten teacher who doesn't approve of Fudge's nickname is pretty sweet.
Earlier, Peter decides to run away from home after his parents tell him they're going to have another baby. When Fudge hears about this, he clings to Peter's leg and begs him not to go.
Anne and Warren don't yell at Peter for his multiple threats to run away in Superfudge. Instead, they point out Jimmy Fargo's apartment is too small, Grandma is visiting Peter's aunt, and invite him to eat dinner first. It's implied Anne finds it Actually Pretty Funny after the third or fourth time.
In Superfudge, Peter is one of those kids who snoops around the house looking for his Christmas presents, so when Fudge forces him to write a letter to Santa Claus, Peter asks for the things he knows his parents already bought him, plus a stereo as a joke. On Christmas morning, it turns out his parents didn't get him a stereo, but they did go out and buy him a tape player as a surprise.
In Fudge-A-Mania, Sheila makes fun of Peter's crush Izzy by saying she has "curly hair and a fat behind." According to 2010s fashion trends, that would make her more desirable, not less.
In a similar vein, in Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great, Sheila mentions that her skinny ballerina sister (who is noted to be as thin and homely as Sheila), gets ignored by a lifeguard in favor of a curvy girl in a bikini. In the 1990s and 2000s, Libby's thin figure would be enviable.
In Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, one of Fudge's friends is named Ralph. Blume would later reuse the name Ralph in her young adult novel Forever, not as a character, but as the name Michael comes up with for his penis.
Probably justified, considering that Peter is still a kid and therefore isn't always rational and might not have full control over his emotions yet, but in the first few chapters of Superfudge, he threatens to run away from home multiple times whenever something happens that he doesn't like (hearing about his mother's new pregnancy, moving to New Jersey). His mother even calls him out on how he can't run away every time something happens that he doesn't like.
In Fudge-A-Mania, when Turtle is sprayed by a Smelly Skunk, everyone's speech is written phonetically as they hold their noses. But instead of proper Congestion Speak (e.g. "m" as "b" and "n" as "d"), it's written like a lisp, with "s" as "th", which nose-plugging doesn't actually cause.
Nausea Fuel: Fudge swallowing Dribble, a live turtle, whole. And then being fed prune juice and milk of magnesia (among other things) over the course of a few days in order to get the turtle out. And this was all taken from a real story to which one of Blume's friends alerted her.
Protagonist Title Fallacy: Fudge's name appears in every title since Superfudge, but Peter is the one narrating the books.
Spiritual Successor: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing is very much like an urban, gender-bent version of Beverly Cleary's Beezus and Ramona. Right down to the fact that both Beezus and Peter are nine years old, both think of their Annoying Younger Sibling as their "biggest problem", both books include one chapter where a group of preschoolers comes over for a party and Hilarity Ensues, and in the climax, both Ramona and Fudge destroy something that meant a lot to their older sibling (Ramona ruins Beezus's birthday cake/Fudge eats Peter's pet turtle). The sequels of the two books go in different directions, though.
Tear Jerker: Peter's response to learning that Dribble is probably dead when Dr. Cone suggests gently that he should get another turtle. He's ashamed to start crying because as he puts it, he just wants his turtle, not a Replacement Goldfish.
In Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Peter receives a baby turtle at his friend's birthday party. It's now illegal to sell turtles with shells less than 4 inches long as pets due to the risk of salmonella. Additionally, giving out pets as party favors is now frowned upon due to the recipients being unprepared to adequately care for the animals.
In Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, after Fudge falls and knocks out his teeth, Jimmy offers his handkerchief to clean the blood off of Fudge's face. Nowadays, it's rare for an adult to carry a handkerchief instead of tissues, and virtually unheard of for a preteen boy to have one.
In Superfudge, Fudge mentions that he loves watching The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and The Electric Company, all of which are very much products of The '70snote although Sesame Street is still running today (50 seasons and counting), while The Electric Company was rebooted for The New '10s, and The Muppet Show began streaming on Disney+ in 2021. In reprints, Fudge instead mentions that he loves watching Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.
Superfudge makes note of the sixth grade being the highest in the school Peter and Fudge attend, at a time when most American elementary schools had a K-6 structure. By The New '10s, many public school districts have incorporated sixth grade into middle school.
When Peter, Fudge, and their dad go to the movies in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Peter's preferred choice is either "a good Western with lots of action or else a picture rated R where you can't get in if you're under seventeen unless you're with your parents". The Western as a genre fell way out of popularity after the 1970s, and a child seeing an R-rated film without their parents is no longer unusual thanks to the rise of home video and online streaming.
In Superfudge, Peter jokes about wanting a stereo system for Christmas. The reprinted version changed this to a laptop, but even that is now outdated since many children are given laptops (from either their parents or their school) for academic purposes.
In Superfudge, Peter expresses his displeasure about having to clean up Turtle's poop while walking him due to the city's recently-passed law note New York City Public Health Law 1310. Said law was passed in real life in 1978, which was after Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was published, but before Superfudge was.
When the series began in 1972, the elevator in the Hatchers' apartment building had Henry Bevelheimer as its operator. By the beginning of the 21st century practically all elevators were user-operated, so in Double Fudge (published in 2002) Bevelheimer converts the elevator to self-service and becomes the building's superintendent.
In Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Peter, Fudge, and their mother eat at Hamburger Heaven. This restaurant is heavily referenced in mid-20th-century works taking place in New York City. However, this is already a stretch because the restaurant's name had changed to Prime Burger in 1965, seven years before the book was published. Prime Burger eventually closed in 2012.
Fudge kicks his kindergarten teacher hard enough to bruise her shin. This happens in Superfudge which was written in (and presumably set in) 1980. Now picture what would happen if Fudge did this in the post-Columbine USA school environment - especially where police have handcuffed kindergartners without a second thought.
A couple of times in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge, Anne spanks Fudge and it's portrayed as acceptable punishment, as it was when both books were published (1972 and 1980 respectively). Nowadays, while some parents still do it, there is a much harsher backlash against spanking due to multiple reports asserting that spanking doesn't work (and if anything, can make misbehavior worse) and grown-ups who were spanked as children being open about their own negative experiences.
In "The Family Dog," Warren losing his temper and pouring the cereal with milk that Fudge had previously demanded and then refused to eat over his head is very cathartic; but such behavior would likely be regarded as abusive nowadays.
Peter's mother leaves her two-year-old in New York City's Central Park with only 3 nine-year-olds to watch him. This would be unheard of today. Not helping matters, Peter casually mentions in the same chapter that his friend Jimmy had been mugged three times in Central Park which resulted in his bike being stolen twice. Nowadays, someone would be getting lectured at the least and the police getting getting called at the most.
Peter states that he doesn't like walking Turtle due to a new law that now requires him to clean up his dog's poop. He does it, but only because he's pressured into doing so. Nowadays, most people in a city like New York wouldn't think twice about cleaning up after their dog, and people who don't do so are generally frowned upon. But the implication here is that before this law was passed, Peter would just let Turtle crap on the sidewalk and move on.
In Superfudge, Peter's classmate Elaine is notorious for punching boys in the gut for no discernable reason other than to amuse herself. She punches Alex at one point, but nobody seems to really care, because it's okay for girls to hit boys in 1980. Nowadays, regardless of gender, if someone went around casually punching their peers, they'd probably need counseling and have the police called on them.
The Woobie: Peter can sometimes be one due to Fudge's antics and sometimes feeling like he's The Unfavorite, even when it's made clear that's not the case.
Fudge's friend Sam is afraid of many things, as shown when he attends Fudge's third birthday party. Later on, he's struck down with chicken pox, and a while after he gets a new baby sibling he presumably dislikes (and Fudge mentions he dislikes said baby's smells).
to sell turtles with shells less than 4 inches long as pets due to the risk of salmonella. Additionally, giving out pets as party favors is now frowned upon due to the recipients being unprepared to adequately care for the animals.