Judy Moody and Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt by Megan McDonald, Peter H. Reynolds

From Barnes & Noble

Welcome to the first non-holiday Judy Moody and Stink joint adventure venture. Intrepid young Judy and her perpetually inquisitive brother, Stink, know how to keep themselves and readers occupied, though not always without diverting complications. This high-spirited treasure hunt, for example, earns every single one of those subtitle adjectives.

From the Publisher

Now in paperback! Judy and Stink co-star in their second full-color adventure — crawling with pirates and puzzles, carbuncles and chuckles.

As soon as the Moody family drops anchor on "Artichoke" Island, they are greeted by Cap’n Weevil, a one-eyed buccaneer with a scraggly beard and a secret treasure map. Before you can say "Davy Jones’s Locker," Stink and Judy are racing across the island in search of gold. But—shiver me timbers!—they’re not the only salty dogs lookin’ for loot. Can Mad Molly O’Maggot and Scurvy Stink beat out their rivals, Tall Boy and Smart Girl? Can they find the hidden clues, crack the secret codes, and solve the tricky puzzles before time runs out? Aaarrr!

Children's Literature

Judy Moody and her brother Stink are back in a spine-tingling story about pirates and hidden treasure. When Judy and Stink's mom and dad decide to take a few days vacation on Ocracoke Island in North Carolina, Judy and Stink are prepared to be bored. They are not prepared for a blustery ferry ride from the mainland to the island, or for the excitement of a real treasure hunt with real pirates and pirate ships. Judy and Stink enlist in the Treasure Hunt contest and are given their directions and rules. Stink already has his list of pirate rules because he wants nothing more in life than to be a pirate. The rules of the contest are simple. Each team is given a clue to a location and when they discover the location, they will be awarded a pirate coin, or piece of eight, as well as a clue to the next location. When a team has collected sixteen coins, they win the contest. As the reader follows along on the journey, he will learn about pirates and about Ocracoke Island. Although the ending is predictable, the behavior of our main characters is uplifting as they teach the reader about fairness and kindness. Young readers love Judy Moody and enjoy reading about her adventures. She is an engaging character that calls elementary students again and again to join in the fun. This is a recommended read for elementary collections and for social studies classrooms. The author's presentation of the characters and the artwork of Reynolds make this a great read aloud title to share in any environment. Reviewer: Joyce Rice

School Library Journal

Gr 1–3—It's a pirate-themed holiday for Judy and younger brother Stink as the Moody family makes their way to historic Ocracoke Island, home of Blackbeard. Stepping off the ferry, the siblings enthusiastically tackle a scavenger hunt organized by "Scurvy Sam," aka Cap'n Weevil. Solving each riddle leads to "pieces of eight" given by locals playing along with the contest. As Judy and Stink race around the island, two other kids seem to be hot on their heels. With a bit of ingenuity and perseverance, the Moodys manage to outwit their competition. Their joy in victory is tempered by the realization that the other kids who have been trying hard have inadvertently led them to the answers on a number of their clues. They decide to include them on their prize trip—a sail around the bay on a real pirate ship. With a mix of pirate slang, silly jokes, Morse code, and tantalizing puzzles, enlivened with full-color cartoons throughout, this book is a humorous summer read.—Madigan McGillicuddy, Los Angeles Public Library

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