Mrs. Moody in The Birthday Jinx (Judy Moody and Friends)

  For my mom, Felicitas Madrid

  E. M.

  For Janet Varney

  M. M.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,

  and incidents are either products

  of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.

  Text copyright © 2016 by Megan McDonald

  Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Peter H. Reynolds

  Judy Moody font copyright © 2003 by Peter H. Reynolds

  Judy Moody®. Judy Moody is a registered trademark of Candlewick Press, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted,

  or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means,

  graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording,

  without prior written permission from the publisher.

  First electronic edition 2017

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2015933256

  ISBN 978-0-7636-8198-2 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-0-7636-8199-9 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-5362-0212-0 (electronic)

  The illustrations were created digitally.

  Candlewick Press

  99 Dover Street

  Somerville, Massachusetts 02144

  visit us at www.candlewick.com

  CONTENTS

  CHApTER 1

  CHApTER 2

  CHApTER 3

  The Boss of Birthday 7

  The Mitten State 29

  Mummy Time 49

  CHApTER 1

  7

  The Boss of Birthday

  Every year on Mom’s birthday,

  something went wrong-not-right.

  Judy called it the Birthday Jinx.

  But this year was going to be

  different. This year, Judy would be

  the boss of birthday. And this year,

  Stink was not going to get carsick.

  And this year, Dad would finally

  bake Mom’s favorite — carrot cake.

  8

  She, Judy Moody, would break the

  Birthday Jinx once and for all.

  “Hey, Stinkerbell,” Judy said to her

  brother, “tomorrow is Mom’s birthday.

  No getting sick this year. And you

  have to make her a really good

  present.”

  Stink looked up from building the

  United Nations Headquarters out of

  Snappos. “I have to make a present?”

  he asked.

  10

  “You can’t buy her a pack of gum

  like last year.”

  “What’s wrong with gum? Mom

  likes gum.”

  “A handmade present says, I love

  you and I care . Gum does not say, I

  love you. Gum does not say, I care.”

  “What does gum say?”

  “Gum says, I only had a dollar.”

  “I say talking gum is a pretty good

  present!” said Stink.

  He looked at his Snappos. “Wait! I

  have an idea!”

  “And Mom’s present can’t be made

  of Snappos,” Judy said.

  “Rats!” said Stink.

  Next Judy went to her dad. “I’m the

  boss of Mom’s birthday this year,” she

  told him. “This year, Mom’s cake has

  to be carrot cake.”

  “Do I have to make it myself?”

  “From scratch,” said Judy. “Cake

  made from scratch says, I love you and

  I care.”

  “Hmm,” said Dad. “I say a talking

  cake is a pretty good present!”

  14

  Finally, Judy got started on her own

  gift for Mom. She tried

  making earrings out

  of seashells, but she

  ended up with a pair

  of glue globs.

  She tried making a

  Popsicle-stick picture

  frame, but couldn’t

  eat enough Popsicles.

  Judy even tried

  to draw a picture

  of a hug, but it

  came out looking

  like a monkey.

  15

  Judy eyed her jar of

  Make-a-Word beads.

  All she had left were

  X’s, Z’s, and numbers.

  Mom liked beads.

  Mom liked bracelets.

  Mom liked numbers;

  she was always talking

  up math. Eureka! The perfect idea.

  A phone-number bracelet!

  A phone-number bracelet was

  better than glue-glob earrings. Better

  than a Popsicle-stick picture frame.

  Better than a drawing of a hug. A

  phone-number bracelet would help

  break the Birthday Jinx for sure.

  That night, Judy could hardly sleep.

  At last it was Mom’s birthday.

  Judy and Stink ran into Mom and

  Dad’s room and bounced on the bed.

  “Happy birthday, Mom!”

  Mom pulled the covers up over her

  head.

  “Kids,” said Dad. “We should let

  Mom sleep in on her birthday.”

  “Who can sleep when there are

  presents to open?” Judy said.

  Mom sat up and rubbed her eyes.

  “I’m awake now.”

  18

  “Open my present first,” said Judy.

  She handed Mom a small box tied

  with rainbow yarn.

  Judy could not wait to see Mom’s

  face light up like a birthday candle!

  Mom tore off the wrapping. Mom

  lifted the lid.

  Mom’s face didn’t light up like a

  birthday candle.

  19

  “A bracelet,” said Mom, “with

  numbers.”

  “Not just any numbers,” said Judy.

  “Our phone number.”

  20

  “Sorry, wrong number!” said Stink.

  “That’s not even our phone number.”

  “I ran out of sevens,” Judy

  explained. “Just pretend the fives are

  sevens, Mom, and you’ll never forget

  our phone number.”

  “Except she will forget, because

  that’s not —”

  “Stink,” Dad warned.

  21

  Stink was right. The fives-not-

  sevens phone-number bracelet was a

  bad idea. It was the Birthday Jinx all

  over again.

  Judy ran to her room and came

  back with her Six-Year Pen. “You can

  have this instead,” she told Mom.

  “It still has four years left in it. I

  promise.”

  “Open mine next,” Stink urged.

  Mom untied the shoelace ribbon. She

  tore off the Sunday comics.

  22

  Inside was a rock. A painted rock

  with googly eyes.

  “You got Mom a rock?” Judy asked.

  “It’s a pet rock and a paperweight,”

  said Stink.

  “Oh, look,” said Mom. “It even says

  MOM on the bottom.”

  23

  “I made it by hand,” Stink told her.

  “That says, I care.”

  “A rock does not say I care,” Ju
dy

  muttered. “Here, Mom. Open Dad’s

  gift.”

  Whatever Dad got, it had to break

  the Birthday Jinx.

  Mom tore off the wrapping paper.

  25

  “Oh!” Mom looked surprised. “A . . .

  glue gun. Or is it a cake decorator?”

  “It’s a label maker,” said Dad.

  “Not just any label maker,” said

  Judy, reading the box. “The Dynamo

  Office Buddy 2000 Embosser.”

  26

  “Now you can label the kids’

  backpacks and lunch boxes and all

  sorts of things,” said Dad.

  “You can label my present so

  everybody knows it’s not just a rock,”

  said Stink.

  “And you can make a label that

  says SHELF OF HONOR where you can

  keep all your presents,” Judy said,

  beaming at her father.

  SHELF OF HONOR

  27

  “Can you tell we care?” asked Stink.

  “You’re not supposed to say it,

  Stink,” said Judy. “The present is

  supposed to say it for you.”

  “But I want to make sure Mom can

  hear what the presents are saying.”

  “I can hear,” said Mom with a wide

  smile. “Loud and clear.”

  29

  The Mitten State

  CHApTER 2

  “Let’s go do something way-not-

  boring for Mom’s birthday,” Judy said

  after breakfast.

  “I call Reptile Mania,” said Stink.

  “I call glow-in-the-dark bowling,”

  said Judy.

  “I call we let Mom choose,” said

  Dad. “It is her day.”

  “I choose . . . a nature walk,” said

  Mom. “I hear that snowy owls have

  been spotted at Smugglers’ Bay.”

  By the time the Moodys piled into

  the car, it was almost lunchtime.

  “Let’s stop to eat first,” said Dad.

  “I call Mac and Cheesy!” said Stink.

  “I call the Bowling Alley Diner,”

  said Judy.

  “I call we let Mom choose,” said

  Dad.

  “I love sushi,” said Mom.

  Judy tried not to make a face.

  “Dead fish?”

  Stink pinched his nose shut. “Sushi

  is P.U.”

  32

  The Moodys ended up at the Grilled

  Cheese Kitchen.

  After lunch at the no-sushi Grilled

  Cheese Kitchen, they piled back into

  the car and headed to Smugglers’ Bay.

  Suddenly, Stink got an uh-oh look

  on his face.

  “Not again! Are you sick or

  something?” Judy asked.

  “Or something.”

  “Oh, no. The Birthday Jinx is back!”

  Mom felt Stink’s forehead. “You

  don’t feel warm,” said Mom.

  “I, um, forgot to tell you about

  some homework. I have to dress up

  as a United State.”

  Mom blinked super fast.

  “And I need my costume by

  tomorrow.”

  “Stink!” Dad said. “It’s Mom’s

  birthday.”

  34

  “Dressing up as a state is a big

  second-grade deal,” Judy told Stink.

  “Do you know how long it took me to

  become South Dakota?”

  “How long?” Stink asked.

  “Long,” said Judy.

  Mom took a deep breath. “We can

  grab some supplies at a crafts store,

  then head home and work on the

  costume.”

  “What about your nature walk?”

  Judy asked.

  “I can walk around the backyard

  later,” said Mom.

  “The backyard doesn’t have snowy

  owls,” said Judy.

  “It has sparrows,” said Stink

  hopefully.

  35

  Judy gave Stink the hairy eyeball.

  Mom turned to Stink. “So, what

  state do you have to be?”

  “Michigan. The Mitten State.

  Michigan is shaped like a giant

  mitten.”

  “Then a giant mitten you shall be!”

  Mom said.

  36

  As soon as they got home, Mom

  helped Stink cut two Stink-size mitten

  shapes out of blue foam. She cut a

  round hole in one mitten for Stink’s

  face.

  37

  While Dad was busy baking not-

  from-a-box carrot cake in the kitchen,

  Mom set up her sewing machine. She

  zipped up one side of Michigan and

  zoomed down the other. She snipped

  and sewed all afternoon.

  At last, Mom slipped the state of

  Michigan over Stink’s head. Stink

  spun around the room. “Look at me!

  I’m the Lower Peninsula!”

  “You look like a giant left-handed

  mitten,” said Judy.

  “I’m smitten with this mitten,” said

  Mom, tugging the costume here and

  there.

  “Thanks, Mom!” said Stink. “Um,

  I was thinking . . . can you make a

  robin, too? That’s the state bird. And

  maybe a flag? Apple blossom is the

  state flower —”

  39

  Mom slumped in her chair, a tape

  measure draped around her neck.

  “I’m pooped.”

  “Hel-lo?” said Judy. “It’s Mom’s

  birthday, Stink. She needs Mom time.”

  41

  So Stink drew pictures of robins and

  apple blossoms and brook trout and

  even a mastodon, the state fossil. Judy

  helped cut out the shapes and glue

  them to the mitten.

  43

  44

  “Is that everything?” Mom asked

  after Stink glued on a sequin for

  Lansing, the state capital.

  Stink checked his homework sheet

  to make double-sure he hadn’t

  forgotten anything. In less than a

  Detroit minute, his face went as white

  as a marshmallow.

  The Michigan mitten crumpled at

  the knees and sank to the floor like

  the wreck of that ship, the Edmund

  Fitzgerald. Kal-a-ma-zoo!

  “Hey, Michigan,” said Judy, poking

  Stink in the state capital. “What’s

  wrong?”

  45

  46

  “I messed up,” he moaned. “It’s a

  major, mastodon-size mess up.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Mom.

  “I’m not even supposed to be

  Michigan,” Stink moaned.

  “What are you supposed to be?”

  asked Judy.

  47

  “Min-min-min,” Stink stammered.

  He could hardly get the word out.

  “Minnesota!” he wailed.

  49

  Mummy Time

  CHApTER 3

  “It’s that Birthday Jinx again!” said

  Judy. “Mom, I’ll help Stink change

  Michigan to Minnesota. We’ll just add

  a bunch of lakes or something.”

  “Ten thousand lakes,” said Stink.

  “Minnesota is the Land of Ten

  Thousand Lakes.”

  50

  “That’s a lot of lakes,” said Judy.

 
“Officially there are eleven thousand

  eight hundred and forty-two lakes,

  but I think we can get away with only

  making ten thousand.”

  “Yikes. We better hurry up and start.

  Mom, do you want to take your nature

  walk in the backyard now?”

  “Right now I want to take a nap.

  I’m going to close my eyes for fifteen

  minutes.”

  Mom curled up on the couch. Judy

  brought her a fluffy pillow. Stink

  covered her up with his cozy

  sleeping bag. Soon Mom was

  snoozing peacefully.

  52

  Judy cut out a picture of a muffin

  from a cooking magazine. “Here, take

  off the Michigan stuff and glue this

  on,” she told Stink. “Blueberry is the

  Minnesota state muffin.”

  “I bet the state weather is snow,”

  said Stink. “I know how to make a

  paper snowflake.”

  “There’s no such thing as state —”

  53

  Chirr-up! Chirr-up! Mom rolled onto

  her side. Chirr-up! Chirr-up! Mom

  rolled onto her back. Chirr-up! Chirr-

  up! Mom woke up. “Sounds like

  there’s a cricket in the house,” she

  said, and rolled onto her other side.

  Ribbet! Ribbet! “Now I hear frogs!”

  Mom said, sitting up. “Does anybody

  else hear frogs?”

  54

  “It’s my musical sleeping bag,”

  Stink told her. “It makes nature

  sounds to help you get sleepy.”

  “How do I turn the sounds off?”

  Mom asked.

  “It only makes noise when you

  move,” said Stink, “so make like a

  mummy and you’ll be fine.”