Judy Moody Predicts the Future. (Judy Moody, #4). Megan McDonald. Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press (Distributed in Canada by Random House of Canada), 2010. 142 pp., pbk., $7.00. ISBN 978-0-7636-4857-2. Note: Judy Moody Double-Rare Collection. ISBN 978-0-7636-5409-2. Contains Volumes 4-6. $19.55. Judy Moody Uber-Awesome Collection. ISBN 978-0-7636-5411-5. Contains Volumes 1-9. $54.00. Grades 1-4 / Ages 6-9. Review by Ruth McMahon. *** /4

excerpt:

Judy could not believe her eyes. "Let me see that," she said. It was green all right. "Stink, you can give me back my mood ring now."

"You threw it in the trash,"Stink told her, waving his mood-ring hand in front of her. "It's mine now." "Yuck! Green looks like pond scum."

"Does not!"

"Green means jealous. Green means green with envy. Green means you wish you were me."

"Why would I wish that? You don't have a mood ring," said Stink.

"C'mon, Stinker. I went through seven bowls of cereal for that ring. I gave up going to Fur & Fangs for that ring. I froze and burned myself for that ring."

"It's still mine," said Stink.

"ROAR," said Judy.

Judy envisions herself as a master of predictions. Her predictions include a great mark on her spelling test - without studying – , the return of the Toad Pee Club's mascot and the romance between her teacher, Mister Todd, and the visiting author, the Crayon Lady. The first two predictions go dreadfully wrong, but Judy gets the romance prediction right. As the fans of the Judy Moody books have come to appreciate, Judy is boisterous and effervescent, and she rises from each defeat determined and wiser. The reader cannot help but root for her, share in her victories and ache for her in her disappointments.

     McDonald has her fingers firmly planted on the pulse of the grade three mind: vocabulary, word play, mischievous activity, the gentle misunderstandings and priorities of a elementary school child.

     Peter Reynolds illustrations come at just the right moments, heightening the fun and capturing the innocence and nuances of the characters and their changing emotions and various activities. Reynolds also has the pulse of the intended age group as his drawings remind me of caricatures my grade four daughter creates.

     In spite of these titles being almost a decade old, they feel current and the humour, sibling rivalry and shenanigans of the characters still hit the mark. For libraries who do not yet have these as part of their collection, their purchase would be money worth spending. Families will also enjoy the characters that are amazingly well-drawn given the brief text and simple vocabulary. The book recommends these titles for ages 6 to 9. I think this audience range could be expanded upwards for readers who are challenged, as the fun of the text is not pedantic, and downwards to a younger audience as Judy Moody Predicts the Future will make a fun read-aloud.

Recommended.

Ruth McMahon is an Alberta-based professional librarian working in a middle school with daughters in middle and elementary school.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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