Two beloved children’s book characters are featured in a couple of new series for young chapter book readers.
Author Megan McDonald adds to her Judy Moody and Stink collection of stories with Judy Moody and Friends, a series focusing on Judy’s friends. With bright, bold colors, the illustrations by Erwin Madrid make these shorter novels appealing to newly independent readers. Jessica Finch in Pig Trouble starts off the series with Judy’s friend Jessica preparing for her birthday party and really wanting a pig for her gift. After a fight with Judy, she disinvites her to her party. Rocky Zang in The Amazing Mr. Magic has Judy’s best friend Rocky trying his hand at magic. Judy helps out as his bumbling assistant until she gets mad and stomps off. Capturing the charm and mood of the original series, Judy Moody and Friends is sure to be a hit with fans of Barbara Park’s Junie B. Jones series and Sara Pennypacker’s Clementine series.
Fans of Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Underachiever, by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver, can get to know Hank as a second grader in their new series, Here’s Hank. Thanks to an observant fourth grade music teacher, Hank is diagnosed with dyslexia in the original series. Before then, despite his tremendous effort and to the great frustration of his father, Hank just couldn’t get his schoolwork done. In A Short Tale about a Long Dog, Hank’s father promises he can get a dog if there is improvement in all of his grades. Despite his best efforts, Hank doesn’t improve his math grade. Mr. Zipzer gives him one chance to take care of his dog, but puts him on warning. Hank is a realistic and relatable character. Young fans will enjoy reading about Hank’s efforts to do his best and empathizing when he fails. A bonus for young readers is that the Here’s Hank series is published with a relatively new font called “Dyslexie,” which is designed to make the letters more distinct and “weighted down.” According to the authors, these attributes help kids read faster and with fewer errors.