One of the wonderful things about the Judy Moody series is that it’s been so well received by struggling readers. Parents and teachers are very happy to have something that — I think the humor really engages kids, so the character and the subject matter, they really want to read the book. The design of the book that Candlewick Press has come up with is so inviting for reluctant readers, because there’s a lot of white space. There’re wide margins. The print is large, but not too large, so I think kids really get the satisfaction of reading a chapter book for the first time.
I’ve had kids come up to me and say, “I read a book like my mom and dad read.” For them, it’s their first experience with a real book.
Now that Stink has come along, Stink is actually a little bit shorter and easier than the Judy Moody books, probably around a second-grade reading level. That’s been equally as satisfying and rewarding, because a lot of kids that age are looking for something. They’ve practiced reading a lot of easy-to-read books, but go through them really quickly. They’re looking for what is that next thing, and I’ve had so many parents write to me or come up to me and say, “I could not get my child to stay interested in reading, and the Stink books really did that for him.” That, to an author is, he highest compliment we could be given.
