Stink

Shrink, shrank, shrunk! Every morning, Judy Moody measures Stink and it's always the same: three feet, eight inches tall. Stink feels like even the class newt is growing faster than he is. Then, one day, the ruler reads -- can it be? -- three feet, seven and three quarters inches! Is Stink shrinking? He tries everything to look like he's growing, but wearing up-and-down stripes and spiking his hair aren't fooling anyone into thinking he's taller. If only he could ask James Madison -- Stink's hero, and the shortest person ever to serve as President of the United States. In Stink's first solo adventure, his special style comes through loud and strong -- enhanced by a series of comic strips, drawn by Stink himself, which are sprinkled throughout the book. From "The Adventures of Stink in SHRINK MONSTER" to "The Adventures of Stink in NEWT IN SHINING ARMOR," these very funny, homespun sagas reflect the familiar voice of a kid who pictures himself with super powers to deal with the travails of everyday life -- including the occasional teasing of a bossy big sister!

When Stink buys a mammoth jawbreaker that doesn't break his jaw, he writes a letter of complaint to the manufacturer - and receives a ten-pound box of 21,280 jawbreakers for his trouble! This unexpected benefit of acing the art of letter-writing in school sure gets Stink thinking. Soon Stink is so preoccupied with getting free stuff sent to him that he overlooks a scribbly envelope in the mail pile - until his best friend, Webster, starts acting standoffish and looks as mad as a hornet. In this hilarious new episode from Megan McDonald and Peter H. Reynolds, Judy Moody's shorter sibling truly comes into his own. As a delightful bonus for both teachers and kids, thirty-six common idioms - from "two heads are better than one" to "a leopard can't change its spots" - are sprinkled throughout the story; seven of the idioms are humorously illustrated by Stink, and all are listed at the end to inspire a search for idioms that's more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

GROSS ME OUT! STINK-O! SKUNKSVILLE! Stink Moody's class is going on a field trip to the Gross-Me-Out exhibit at the science museum, and he can't wait to see the Vomit Machine, the Burp-O-Meter, and the Musical Farts. Best of all, when he gets to the Everybody Stinks exhibit, Stink discovers that his very own nose has amazing sniffing abilities -- and he learns that some people have real jobs sniffing stuff for NASA! Soon the junior olfactory wiz is engrossed in toilet water, corpse flowers, and all things smelly, and he and Sophie of the Elves are set to go toe-to-toe in a stinky sneaker contest. Will Stink's fetid footwear be foul enough to earn him a Golden Clothespin Award? Stink's loyal fans will be holding their breath for his latest outrageous solo adventure.

When three guinea pigs from the local pet shop make a great escape, Stink Moody and his friends Webster and Sophie spring into action. Ta-da! The Fantastic Fur Friends round up the little hairballs and bring them safely back to Mrs. Birdwistle's shop, where they discover -- oohla- la! -- guinea pig pandemonium! Time for the Great Guinea Pig Giveaway! Stink and company hit the road aboard the Squeals on Wheels Express in a crazy quest to fi nd good homes for 101 squealing, whistling, chirping, wiggly piggies. FUR-eaky!

Look! Up in the sky! Is it a falling leaf? A speck of dust? A speeding mosquito? No, it's Stink Moody, Solar System Superhero! When Stink learns that Pluto has flunked out of the Milky Way for being too shrimpy, he feels like he might just explode with a Big Bang. Stink has no choice but to take a stand for the sake of little planets (and little people) everywhere. Will he be smart enough to defeat a panel of big-shot scientists? Will he be strong enough to beat know-it-all Riley Rottenberger and her "Team KPB"? Will he succeed in rescuing Pluto from a fate worse than being swallowed by a black hole? Start the countdown for a funny (and very informative) out-of-this-world adventure--and prepare to have your universe rocked!

Stink Moody, family brain, brings home a report card that isn't perfect? Yikes! Time for him to get into fighting shape and beat back that U for Unsatisfactory in gym! A scan of the sports channel leads to a knock-out find: world-class thumb wrestling, with tricky moves like Snake in the Grass and Santa's Little Helper (no equipment needed, save for a tiny terrifying mask to sit on your thumb). But when Mom and Dad are not wowed, Stink gets another idea: he'll kick and punch his way to a yellow belt with the help of a Dragon Master, a seeing-eye Moose, and a mind as still as a pond. Can you say Crouching Tiger, Hidden Thumb? Hee-ya! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Guts! Brains! Eyeballs! There's only one week before the new book in the Nightmare on Zombie Street series comes out. Of corpse Stink will be first in line at the Blue Frog Bookstore to buy his copy and join the town's Midnight Zombie Walk! Until then, Stink and his friends keep busy making ketchup-stained zombie costumes, trying to raise money to buy the book, and racking up points for Virginia Dare School's race to one million minutes of reading. But with all that talk about the undead, Zink- that is, Stink - starts to wonder: is he being hunted by zombies? He does have a very delicious - er, superb - brain, after all. Readers will just have to open ze book and zee! Mwa-ha-ha-ha!

Stink may be super smart, and Stink may be uber clever, but he's been in the Polliwog swim class frog-ever and he still can't bear to put his face in the water. Why would he want a geyser up his nose, on purpose? But then something weird happens: Stink starts to see frogs everywhere - in the locker room, in his boot, in the bathtub. And when a freaky blue frog licks his arm, his froggy senses start tingling! He has an urge to slurp up raisins (that look like flies). He can't wait to play in the rain and mud. He's a wiz at identifying frog calls. And he has become very interested in the local frog population. Could it be that Stink is turning into . . . the amazing Stink-Frog, fighter of slime? Pree-eep! Craw-awk!

When Stink's parents win tickets for the whole family to sleep over at the aquarium (along with Stink's two best friends), it sounds like a science freak's dream come true. Stink loves the sea-creature scavenger hunt (Bat ray! Brain coral!), the jellyfish light show, and the shiver of sand tiger sharks with razor-sharp teeth. And of course Stink is nuts about gross stuff, but after some spooky stories around the virtual campfire, can he manage to fall asleep thinking about the eating habits of the vampire squid? Especially Bloody Mary, the mutant, glowing Frankensquid that's supposed to be on the prowl?