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Children's Fiction Business, Careers, Occupations

Judy Moody: Sunny-Side Up

by (author) Megan McDonald

illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Publisher
Candlewick Press
Initial publish date
Sep 2024
Category
Business, Careers, Occupations, Humorous Stories, Chapter Books
Recommended Age
6 to 9
Recommended Grade
1 to 4
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781536220391
    Publish Date
    Sep 2024
    List Price
    $21.99

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Sometimes you just have to find the good news, as Judy Moody discovers when she creates her very own newspaper—featured as a bonus at the end of the book.

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! Mr. Todd has Class 3T looking for the Five Ws in the newspaper, but all Judy can see is how much bad news there is. Climate change! Deadly virus! Sea turtles endangered by straws stuck in their noses! The good news is that Judy is taking all the bad news as a call to action. She gets out her notebook, clicks her six-year pen, transforms into a Kid Reporter, and goes out in search of happier stories. Rare bird sighting in Virginia Beach! Escaped bearded dragon found! Plastic straws banned at Virginia Dare School! There’s even a scoop that Judy overhears while ordering a scoop at Screamin’ Mimi’s—about someone who found real buried treasure. Kids intrigued by the first edition of Judy’s Sunny-Side-Up News—offering stories, a word search, a comic, a recipe, and more—may just be inspired to create their own second edition. After all, there’s no telling how much good news is out there until you start looking . . . and acting!

About the authors

Contributor Notes

Megan McDonald is the creator of the popular and award-winning Judy Moody and Stink series. She is also the author of Bunny and Clyde, illustrated by Scott Nash, the Sisters Club stories, two books about Ant and Honey Bee, illustrated by G. Brian Karas, and many other books for children. Megan McDonald lives in California with her husband, writer Richard Haynes.

Peter H. Reynolds is the illustrator of the Judy Moody and Stink books, the author-illustrator of The Dot, Ish, Sky Color, So Few of Me, The North Star, Rose’s Garden, The Smallest Gift of Christmas, and Playing from the Heart, and the illustrator of many other picture books. Born in Canada, Peter H. Reynolds now lives in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Excerpt: Judy Moody: Sunny-Side Up (by (author) Megan McDonald; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds)

WWWWW: The Five Ws
WHO: Judy Moody
WHAT: Learning about newspapers
WHEN: 8:19 a.m.
WHERE: Virginia Dare School, Class 3T
WHY: It’s important to understand the
big wide world we live in.

Mr. Todd, World’s Best Teacher, took out his guitar. He did not sing the good morning song. He sang a song about the Five Ws—who, what, when, where, and why!
“Welcome, Class 3T. Today we are talking about news stories. True stories. Remember, every good story has the Five Ws.”
Then Mr. Todd wrote two magic words on the board: scavenger hunt.
Scavenger hunt! That was just a fancy name for treasure hunt. Judy Moody thought of five Ws, too. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!
“Big news!” said Mr. Todd, chuckling to himself.
Here it comes. Treasure hunt! Third grade just got way more interesting.
“The world is a big place, and when we read the newspaper, it’s like we’re one global family. It’s important to understand people and events beyond our own neighborhoods and communities. With an understanding of the world, we have a chance to make it a better place.”
“My mom and dad read the news--paper online,” said Paisley.
“I read the funnies,” said Frank.
“Our puppy pees on our paper,” said Maddie. Giggles went through the room.
Judy popped out of her seat like a toaster waffle. “What about the treasure hunt? Are we going outside to find stuff like rocks that sparkle or three different kinds of leaves? Or is it inside and we have to find a pencil sharpener, some--thing purple, and the letter Z?”
“Hold the phone, Judy. I’m getting to that.”
Phone? What phone?
“Let’s start with the parts of a news-paper.” Mr. Todd pointed to a list of words on the board.
Headline
Byline
Article
Jump line
Photo
Caption
“Who knows what a headline is?” asked Mr. Todd. “Frank Pearl?”
“It’s like the head line,” said Frank. “A line at the top in big letters, so you know what the story is about.”
“Very good,” said Mr. Todd. “How about a byline?”
Jessica Finch’s hand shot up. “It tells you who wrote the story. I mean the article. Like if I wrote an article it would say, ‘By Jessica A. Finch.’ ”
“Thank you, Jessica,” said Mr. Todd, “for telling us about a byline and an article.
How about a jump line?”
“Ooh. I know,” said Bradley. “It’s when you cut in front of somebody in line.”
“Is it a jump rope?” asked Paisley.
“No, it’s when you jump over a line like this,” said Rocky. He got out of his seat and jumped over a pretend line. He landed in a squat with his arms out.
Mr. Todd shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s a line jump, Rocky. Remember, class, we’re talking about newspapers.”
And treasure hunts, thought Judy.
“A jump line tells you where to find the rest of the story,” Mr. Todd told them. “It might say turn to page A-nine. That’s Section A, page nine.”
Judy Moody looked at the board. The last two words were photo and caption. Judy knew all about photos and captions from the time she tried to get famous by getting her picture in the newspaper.
Judy’s hand shot up. “A caption tells you what’s in the photo. Remember that time my almost-famous elbow got in the paper, the caption said I was Judy Muddy, not Judy Moody.” Class 3T cracked up, remembering.
“Sorry to hear that, Judy,” said Mr. Todd, smiling behind his glasses. All of a sudden, Mr. Todd started ripping up the newspaper! He passed out a page of the newspaper to each third-grader.
“Are we going to make paper hats?”
“Piñatas?”
“Paper airplanes?”
“Each one of us will get a page of the newspaper,” said Mr. Todd. “Start the scavenger hunt by looking at your page. Try to find the six things on the list.”
The third-graders got busy circling headlines and photos and captions.
When they were done, Mr. Todd said, “Now I want you to pick one story to read, and try to find the Five Ws.”
Class 3T got super quiet as they read their newspaper pages. Judy looked over her own paper. murder hornets attack honey bees
freak blizzard blankets east coast
plane crashes in indian ocean
“Okay, class,” said Mr. Todd. “Let’s share some of the headlines you’re finding in your papers.”
The third-graders read aloud some of their headlines.
ice shelf collapses
deadly virus sweeps country
stranded ship spills tons of oil
Judy wiggled and wriggled in her seat.
She tried to keep reading her newspaper. But something was not good. Something was bad. Judy could not keep quiet one more second.
“Mr. Todd!” said Judy, raising her hand. “Bad news.”
“What is it, Judy?”
“Something is wrong with my news-paper. Blizzards and plane crashes and murder hornets. It’s all bad news. Who, what, when, where, and why is there no good news?”
“My page is bad news, too,” said Rocky.
“Mine, too,” said Hannah K.
Judy flipped her page over and back, over and back. There just had to be good news here somewhere. “Why is the newspaper all bad news?” she asked.
“There is a lot of bad news in the world, I’m afraid,” said Mr. Todd. “But bad news can inspire us to do something about it. Bad news can be a call to action. For example, take the oil spill. It might motivate the oil company to adopt better practices and to pollute less. It could spur people to rescue sea birds, or help with the cleanup.”
“Like we’re going to do on our field trip?” asked Jessica.
“Yes, exactly,” said Mr. Todd. “Next week we’ll be going to the aquarium at Sunrise Beach for our beach cleanup. Don’t forget to bring gloves, a water
bottle, and a bucket.”
Field trip! At least that was good news.
“Tell you what, Judy,” said Mr. Todd. “When you go home today, look through your family’s newspaper and try to find one good-news story. Then bring it in tomorrow and we’ll talk about it.”
“Is there a prize?” Judy asked. “Like, I mean, if I find one?”
“Finding good news will be its own reward,” said Mr. Todd.
“Or an A-plus-plus,” Judy teased, and Mr. Todd laughed.

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