Judy Moody Was in a Mood. Not a Good Mood. A Bad Mood.

In her first chapters, McDonald introduces her protagonist, Judy Moody. McDonald portrays Judy as an opinionated but generally good-natured girl who has strong feelings and a lot of confidence. Judy’s intense highs and lows help McDonald establish the theme of Learning to Manage Emotions. For instance, Judy feels frightened and insecure about going back to school because she knows that she will not have the familiarity of her old teacher and classroom. McDonald writes, “She would have to get used to a new desk and a new classroom. Her new desk would not have an armadillo sticker with her name on it, like her old one last year. Her new classroom would not have a porcupine named Roger” (11). By describing the familiar characteristics of her old classroom—a sticker on her desk and a classroom pet porcupine—McDonald underscores how Judy experiences fear due to the uncertainty of her new educational environment. 

Rather than articulating these fears to her parents or teacher, however, Judy acts out in other ways, like saying “roar” to her mom: “‘Judy? Did you hear me?’ ‘ROAR!’ said Judy” (11). She also passively acts out her bad mood at school during her teacher’s first spelling lesson. Judy only includes the negative words in her responses: “She found the words TREE, TEXAS, and TAXI hidden in Mr. Todd’s spelling on the board. But instead she wrote down 1.) NO 2.) NO 3.) NO 4.) NO 5.) NO” (19). Chatting with her teacher easily changes Judy’s mood from anger to eagerness. This shows how Judy can swing from mood to mood very quickly. Mr. Todd’s calm and positive negotiation with Judy about the pizza table shows that he wants her to have a good time at school but needs her to put more effort into managing her own emotions: “‘Tell you what,’ said Mr. Todd, ‘If you think you can come to third grade in a good mood tomorrow, it’s yours. Do you think you can agree to that?’ ‘Yes, Mr. Todd,’ said Judy. ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!” (20). McDonald shows Judy’s early interactions with her mother and Mr. Todd to demonstrate the difficulty she has regulating her emotions, which gives her character room to grow throughout the book. 

McDonald foreshadows Judy’s open-minded and flexible nature, which often hides beneath her stubbornness and negativity. When she asks for a sloth for a pet, she does not complain that this isn’t possible. Instead, she is easily excited by a different possibility: a Venus flytrap plant, which she considers her new pet. She tells her brother, “I can’t wait to take my new pet to school tomorrow for Share and Tel” (37). Judy’s willingness to be flexible and find positive possibilities shows that she is already maturing and learning to manage her feelings.



Judy’s conversations and activities with her brother, Stink, allow McDonald to introduce The Ups and Downs of Siblinghood and add a humorous tone to the story. As the older sibling, Judy often wants to be independent from Stink and pursue her interests with her friends. However, she begrudgingly agrees to include him when her parents ask her to. For instance, Judy agrees to bring Stink to the store with her and her friend, Rocky, even though she’d rather not. Judy is not always very sensitive to Stink’s emotions. For instance, she smashes his rock without asking, hurting his feelings. Despite his hurt feelings, Stink soon after displays his ingenuity, sells the “moon dust” in baggies, and makes $3. This detail allows McDonald to introduce Stink’s innocence and funny antics. 

While she likes her independence, Judy still has fun with her brother. When she is enjoying her new plant, she employs Stink to catch some bugs for her to feed it, which he eagerly agrees to do: “‘Stink!’ she called. ‘Go get me a fly.’ ‘How am I going to catch a fly?’ asked Stink. ‘One fly. I’ll give you a dime.’ Stink ran to the window behind the couch and brought back a fly” (38). Stink’s enthusiasm to play with his sister characterizes him as a younger sibling willing to help and a foil—a character with contrasting personality—to Judy.

McDonald also introduces the theme of Navigating School and Relationships through how Judy learns how to interact at school with her friends, classmates, and teachers. Judy is unkind to her classmate Frank Pearl, who yearns to be her friend. When Frank passes her notes, Judy rejects him, writing “NO” on her hand and flashing it to him. When he calls her at home, she simply tells him he has the wrong number and hangs up. Judy’s inability to distance herself politely from Frank shows that she is still learning how to communicate and be kind to those she dislikes. Judy is also adjusting to her new teacher, Mr. Todd. She misses her old teacher and refers to Mr. Todd and “Mr. Toad” for fun. Since Mr. Todd is so patient with Judy, McDonald foreshadows that the two will soon become friends. Judy’s most positive relationship is with her best friend and classmate, Rocky. While the two have different interests, they support each other and easily negotiate with each other. For instance, when they go to the store together, they pool their money to buy candy for Rocky and Band-Aids for Judy. Judy’s variety of relationships portrays her as a third grader who is learning to deal with different kinds of peers and grown-ups.