Judy Moody, M.D. : The Doctor Is In!

Third-grader Judy Moody's day gets off to a rocky start one rainy morning, as she tries to convince her skeptical mother and brother that she is ill. Foiled in the attempt, she is packed off to school, convinced that it is going to be the worst day ever. Instead, she discovers to her delight that Mr. Todd's room is full of bones - a skeleton is even posed at his desk! - and that her class is about to embark on a study of "the amazing human body." Judy, whose ambition is to become a doctor one day like her idol, Elizabeth Blackwell, enters fully into the spirit of this project, enjoying the subsequent class field-trip to the hospital, and designing a very detailed "operation" for her presentation. When she becomes the victim of a show more practical joke however, and is made to look foolish by her friends, it seems that all of her fun is ruined - especially when she ends up ill! Can her friends convince Judy Moody, M.D., that they are sorry...?

This fifth entry in Megan McDonald's chapter-book series chronicling the adventures of a feisty young girl whose moods (as they do with most younger children) go wildly up and down depending upon circumstance, is an engaging read. Judy makes an appealing heroine, one with plenty of flaws, but an essentially good-hearted nature as well. Her interaction with her younger brother Stink is a case in point, alternating between the usual sibling taunting and pranks (her threats to use Toady as a guinea pig for her science presentation), and some sweetly humorous acts of affection (the "help" she gives, when he is sick in bed with tonsillitis). The artwork by Peter H. Reynolds, whose own titles include such picture-books as The Dot and Ish, perfectly captures the sense of humor and fun in the text, adding to the reading experience. All in all, Judy Moody, M.D.: The Doctor Is In! is an entertaining little story, one I would recommend to beginning chapter-book readers, and to fans of its heroine. show less

I really liked how this story of Judy Moody connected with an earlier one. I thought the whole zucchini operation was funny and the illustration of her as humpty dumpty, hilarious. Judy Moody encouraging readers to be kind to others and go for a profession like a doctor makes it a growing favorite series for me. Now I just need a book all about Mouse (their pet cat) to make my day.

I thought that this was a great book that would be really good at catching, and keeping, the interest of the children reading it. The main character was very realistic and the interactions between her and her brother or classmates were all something that I think children could relate to for. For example, she often was telling her brother to get out of her room or to not touch her stuff and this is something that happened often between real siblings. The writing was also very funny and often made me laugh out loud while reading. Judy told many jokes but on top of the jokes that she told some of the things she said or the way she interacted with other characters was very funny. The mispronounced words during the story were also very show more believable such as saying the hippopotamus oath instead of the Hippocratic oath. This made the story even more believable but even more funny also. I really like the humor that was put into the plot and also the realistic and relatable nature of the characters in the text. Through learning about the human body at school, Judy Moody found out that sometimes when you are sick all you need is a visit from your friends to make you feel better which is a great lesson for children to learn at any age. show less

I got a real kick out of miss Judy Moody. She is so extravagant and fun. This is a great early chapter book that has Judy Moody on the adventure to being a doctor. She helps her sick brother, does surgery on a zuccini and gets sick herself after a joke about cloning from her friends. This book is right on with great vocabulary that just where 3rd graders are.

This is a great story for students who are beginning to read chapter books. I never read Judy Moody as a child, but I now understand its popularity with children. Every child can relate to the way Judy felt when she was pretending to be sick so she didn’t have to go to school. Having a sibling who tells on you is also something children can relate to, which occurs in this book when Judy’s brother tells their mom that Judy is not actually sick. Above all, every child can relate to being excited for a field trip. The book is well-written and although it is mostly for the purpose of entertainment, there are some educational lessons. For example, the doctor at the field trip to the ER asked Judy if she could wiggle her phalanges. The show more author then states that Judy wiggled her fingers. Using context clues, a child would be able to figure out that phalanges are the bones in your fingers. This book also uses language to teach basic anatomy in a funny way. This is shown when the school nurse says the skeleton in her office is very “humorous” and then goes on to explain that the humorous is a long bone in the upper arm. Since this is a chapter book, there are not colorful illustrations, but there are pictures on some of the pages to keep the reader engaged. The language in this book is easy to understand, without too many complex vocabulary words. This is good for readers with low self-esteem who need to ease their way into the idea of reading chapter books well. show less

This time around Judy is ecstatic because 3T is now studying the human body and we all know her dream of becoming a doctor plays into that rather nicely. Thing is...Judy is about to learn there are boundaries in both medicine and real life that shouldn't be breached when she decides to go all out with her class presentation of something that wasn't hers to share, tell, or show. She's got a good heart, but sometimes her ambition gets in her way...good thing it looks like she's getting those missteps out while she's young.


**copy received for review

Moody Judy books are fun, adventurous, humorous books in general, and this one was no different! This is an ideal series for 2nd-5th graders to enjoy and ramp up their reading comprehension! These books have simple, but fun story lines, with an exciting, silly main character. I can see young girls gravitating towards these books more so than young boys, simply because they feature a female main character. Young girls can relate to Judy, and the situations she gets into. It's fun to read how she acts much like the young girls reading about her.