Megan McDonald: Hi, this is Megan McDonald. I write a series of books for kids about a very moody third grader named Judy Moody. Judy Moody has a little brother who's kind of a pest, named Stink, and she has a lot of funny adventures. Where did I come up with those adventures? I grew up in a big family. I have four older sisters and a lot of funny things, as you can imagine, happened growing up with so many sisters. So, I took a lot of these funny family stories and I made them happen to Judy and Stink in my books. And those stories of growing up with so many sisters are really what inspired the original Judy Moody stories and character.

So things like the Toad Pea Club, the funny joke Judy plays on Stink with the fake hand in the toilet. These are all things that really happened in my family and that I make happen to Judy in the books. Now readers often wanna know, am I like Judy or is Judy like me? And I have to say I'm a lot like Judy Moody. I'm kind of a moody person myself. I do have my own mood ring and I also am a collector like Judy. She collects all kinds of funny things from rocks and scabs and barbie doll heads to band aids and pizza tables. That's exactly what I did when I was her age.

One way I'm not like Judy is she's a big sister and I'm the youngest. But I love writing about a big sister because for that I get to use my imagination. And also growing up with four bossy big sisters, I love getting to make Judy be a bossy big sister to Stink. Now I would like to read from the first book in the series, called Judy Moody, and the first chapter is called A Bad Mood.

Judy Moody did not want to give up summer. She did not feel like brushing her hair every day. She did not feel like memorizing spelling words and she did not want to sit next to Frank Pearl who ate paste in class. Judy Moody was in a mood. Not a good mood, a bad mood. A mad face mood. Even the smell of her new grouchy pencils could not get her out of bed. "First day of school!" sang her mother. "Shake a leg. Get dressed."

Judy Moody slunk down under the covers and put a pillow over her head. "Judy, did you hear me?" "Roar!" said Judy. 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. And with her luck, she'd get stuck sitting in the first row, where Mr. Todd could see every time she tried to pass a note to her best friend Rocky.