Tag: Stink Moody

REVIEW: Stink: Superhero Superfan by Megan McDonald

REVIEW: Stink: Superhero Superfan by Megan McDonald

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Stink discovers a box of comics in the family garage and becomes a super-fan of Super Gecko. He plans to study Super Gecko’s powers at Saturday Science Club when they have Superhero Science Day.

When Stink finds a mysterious note signed “Super Gecko,” he starts investigating to see if his new favorite hero could be real.

 

Review

This was delightful! This may be Stink’s 13th book, but this brings back the joy of his earliest adventures.

There’s a fun mash up here of science, mystery, and comic books, and I loved all of it. This could be a fun class read aloud or a bedtime read. There are some fun tie-ins here for Free Comic Book Day or science classes/clubs. It’s a winner all the way around!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥♥½ = I loved it! Would re-read.

BONUS REVIEW: Judy Moody, Book Quiz Whiz by Megan McDonald

BONUS REVIEW: Judy Moody, Book Quiz Whiz by Megan McDonald

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Candlewick Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Judy, Stink, and some of their friends make up the Virginia Dare School’s book quiz team, the Bookworms.

The Bookworms have been competing at school, and now they’ve made it all the way to the Book Quiz finals. Judy, Stink, Sophie, Frank and Jessica have been reading like crazy to prepare. Judy has even tried speed reading, although it didn’t go very well.

The Bookworms are feeling pretty confident, aside from some tummy butterflies – until they hear about their competition. The Bloodsucking Fake-Mustache Defenders have a 4th grader on their team! “Mighty Fantasky” is supposed to be a for-real speed reader. And she’s already read the 5th Harry Potter book. That’s almost 900 pages long! How can the Bookworms – three 3rd graders and two 2nd graders – compete against that?

Review

This was a delight! It felt like a Mr. Lemoncello book with all the book references, but for a younger audience. There’s supposed to be a book list in the back of the final copy, but it was not in the reviewer’s version.

Kids who read a lot will have a great time answering the book quiz practice questions along with the characters. And the book list is pretty vast. Readers will probably find some new titles to try as well. The only potential negative here is that the emphasis is on reading fast and accumulating knowledge to answer questions rather than on enjoying reading for the stories and the characters, being transformed by what we read, etc.

It’s fun to watch Judy and Stink working together in this story. They encourage each other in their reading, and Judy helps Stink with his nervous feelings. Fans of both characters will find something to love here. This is the 15th book in the Judy Moody series.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Transitional Chapter Books

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Transitional Chapter Books

Posted on by Jaymie

One of the most important audiences for children’s books are the kids who are ready to branch out from picture books and early readers/beginning readers. These kids are ready for CHAPTER BOOKS! And they are SO excited when they get to that stage. I know when my teenager was little, we started with Magic Tree House, which are sort of a staple for this age group. But I got tired of reading them very quickly. So we started branching out to a few other series. Then, when I was teaching, I discovered even more. Here are some books and series to get you started if you are looking for reading material for this age group:

Old School

Some of these are the early chapter books we read when my son was little. These are still available and still a lot of fun to read.

Bad Kitty is still going strong, with new books releasing about once a year.  Dragonling has been around for awhile, but they are re-releasing them with new covers. The story is great! I wish they had redone the interior illustrations, too. Some of the Jigsaw Jones mysteries have recently been re-released. Judy Moody has gotten a makeover this year, too. The whole series has new covers, and new books are still coming. My teen didn’t read them, but I loved them. We loved the Melvin Beederman Superhero stories. Jack Stalwart books were fantastic because they were fairy simple, but the vocabulary was strong (great for strong readers who aren’t ready for the more intricate plots of middle grade), and the spy and travel aspects were fun. Stink Moody was probably our favorite back in those days. Book 2 is my favorite of the series, and that series continues to grow.

Branches

These are my go-to books for this age group. There are MANY series, but these are some of my favorites.

Boris, Haggis and Tank, and Kung Pow Chicken seem to be finished as series. I believe they have 2-4 books each. Dragon Masters, Owl Diaries and Hilde Cracks the Case are series that continue to put out new books. You will find these on a lot of my Book News posts.

Favorites

Some of my other favorite recommendations for these readers

I recently read my first Bad Guys story and I loved it! It’s almost more of a graphic novel than a traditional chapter book. But whatever format you want to call it, it was all sorts of funny! The Chicken Squad series is a spin off of a book called The Trouble with Chickens. I love the books because they are funny which is a great selling point for this age group. The Deckawoo Drive series (Baby Lincoln) is a spin off of the Mercy Watson books. Dog Man is a graphic novel series from the author of Captain Underpants. So far I have only read the first one, but it was a lot of fun. Zoey and Sassafras books are a great combination of fantasy and science. The Dragonsitter books are told in emails. I love them. They’ve been around for awhile. Galaxy Zack is basically a new-kid-at-school series about moving and making friends, but it takes place in space. My students enjoyed this sci-fi series. King and Kayla and Magic Bone are great dog stories, which is always a crowdpleaser. I thought the Magic Bone books were  hilarious. Marvel Superhero Adventures are fun stories with familiar heroes. Princess in Black is a fantastic series about a princess who has a secret identity for fighting monsters. So fun! Ranger in Time is another dog series. I describe it to kids as Magic Tree House with a dog. I love them. Finally there’s Ricky Ricotta’s Might Robot. My teen read these as a kid, so they could go in the “Old School” category, but they’ve recently received an upgrade with all new full-color art by Dan Santat. These are NOT to be missed!

Coming Soon

These are some series that are just getting started or coming out later this year.

Beatrice Zinker, History Pals (Ben Franklin), and Strange Scout Tales all have books out now with new ones coming later this year. The rest are series starting this fall. I have several of these on my wish list, including the Time Jumpers book which is the latest from Branches.

BONUS REVIEW: Hamlet and Cheese by Megan McDonald

BONUS REVIEW: Hamlet and Cheese by Megan McDonald

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

For Spring Break, Stink’s friend, Sophie-of-the-Elves is going to Shakespeare camp at the college. They’ll learn about Shakespeare’s plays, practice Shakespearean insults, and even learn sword fighting. Stink can’t resist signing up for that! Even though he’s the only boy at camp, he’s determined to get the full Shakespeare experience.

The other downside to camp is Stink’s nemesis, Riley Rottenberger. She seems determined to have a Romeo-and-Juliet kissing moment with Stink before the end of camp. Thankfully, Judy and Sophie help him make an anti-smooching shield! Hopefully it will be enough against Riley.

Review

This is a fun addition to the Stink Moody series for kids transitioning to chapter books for the first time. When my son was in first and second grade, these were some of his favorite books.

The Shakespeare theme was fun. The book covers some of the basics of plays like Hamlet as well as information about how the theater worked in Shakespeare’s day. This could get kids interested in learning more about Shakespeare and his works.

I didn’t care for the kissing emphasis for this age group, but it worked out all right in the book. If kids are reading this with support, this might be a good way to introduce the idea of consent. I know it may seem like an over-reaction to a simple kids story, but no one should have to worry about someone kissing them when they don’t want to be kissed. I’ve worked at an elementary school; it does come up even with kids that young. In my opinion, it’s important to set a good standard for kids early on. I think our culture is bearing that out right now, too.

This is a fun series for younger elementary readers. Thanks to Netgalley and Candlewick Press for the chance to read an electronic review copy of the latest book in the series. The illustrations were not available on my review copy, but Peter H. Reynolds always does a fantastic job. His illustrations are a big part of the charm of the series.

Rating: ♥♥♥