I have been familiar with
Judy Moody for a few years. I had not read any of her books, but I knew that they were similar to other transitional reader series in my classroom, such as
Ivy and Bean,
Clementine, and
Junie B. Jones. My middle school students mainly read
Judy Moody books in Spanish, while other books appealed to them in English as there is a much wider range of literature available in English. In addition, they typically felt more confident with higher level books in English as opposed to Spanish translations that often use less familiar dialects.
Earlier this fall I heard that author Megan McDonald also had books focusing on Judy's brother Stink and at a recent trip to the library, I learned that there are also books about both of them together. Both of my daughters saw and loved
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, so when they saw the books, they picked out a few.
Judy Moody & Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt was the first that we started to read together as a family; however, my oldest lost interest, so it ended up being with just my youngest, except here and there when my oldest would reappear and listen to bits and pieces.
In the book Judy and Stink (or as they are referred to at times in the book Mad Molly O'Maggot and Scurvy Stink) are set for an adventure. For a family trip they have headed to an island with their parents to participate in a treasure hunt competition against other kids, where the winner get to go for a ride on a pirate ship. Judy and Stink refer to their main competitors as Smart Girl and Tall Boy, as they often notice them nearby and know that they are on the right track.
The format of the book is enjoyable. Unlike, most transitional readers, the pictures are in color. At first my oldest did not think that it was divided up into chapters, but after I flipped through the book, I pointed out to her that the periodic full page illustrations featuring signs were chapter markers. I later realized that there was also a table of contents that I could have shown her as well.
My youngest absolutely loved the pictures and the plot. There were a lot of giggles, as well as "Show me that again," or "Read that again". We finished the book up a couple of nights ago, and last night she was flipping through the book again and retelling some of her favorite parts. Nonetheless, shortly after she was loudly saying, "di di di di," to simulate how we talked about one of the chapter markers that was in code and then belted out, "Arrrr" on another page, her sister told her to quiet down because she couldn't concentrate on her homework with all that noise! At that point my youngest turned back to the start of the book to look through again without talking.
The book is an enjoyable experience for those who enjoy adventure, mystery and pirates. The full color illustration are an asset, supporting the transition to chapter book format. Just as my daughter did, emergent readers can enjoy the text with adults and revisit pictures to recreate aspects of the story on their own. This would be a fun read aloud book as well to pique students' interest about chapter books. Because the characters appear in multiple series, students who enjoy it can read any of the books about the characters.
