Free Novel Read

Frank Pearl in The Awful Waffle Kerfuffle (Judy Moody and Friends)




  .

  .

  .

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,

  and incidents are either products

  of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.

  Text copyright © 2014 by Megan McDonald

  Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Peter H. Reynolds

  Judy Moody font copyright © 2003 by Peter H. Reynolds

  Judy Moody®. Judy Moody is a registered trademark of Candlewick Press, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted,

  or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means,

  graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording,

  without prior written permission from the publisher.

  First electronic edition 2014

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2013952831

  ISBN 978-0-7636-5717-8 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-0-7636-7213-3 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-0-7636-7214-0 (electronic)

  This book was typeset in ITC Stone Informal.

  The illustrations were created digitally.

  Candlewick Press

  99 Dover Street

  Somerville, Massachusetts 02144

  visit us at www.candlewick.com

  For Richard

  M. M.

  For my nieces, Melanie and Mariel

  E. M.

  The Fro-Yo Yo-Yo Contest 7

  The Kooky Cookie Contest 25

  The Awful Waffle Kerfuffle 45

  CHA

  p

  TER

  3

  CHA

  p

  TER

  2

  CHA

  p

  TER

  1

  CONTENTS

  .

  Frank Pearl walked the dog down

  Jumper Street. He walked the dog down

  Croaker Road. He walked the dog past

  Judy Moody’s house.

  “What’s up, Frank?” Judy called.

  “I’m walking the dog,” said Frank.

  “But there’s no dog,” said Judy. “How

  can you walk the dog without a dog?”

  The Fro-Yo Yo-Yo Contest

  7

  CHA

  p

  TER

  1

  .

  Frank held up his brand-new, super-

  sleek Whizz Master 5000 yo-yo. It was

  Fast with a capital F. “Walking the

  Dog is a yo-yo trick.”

  “When you’re done walking your

  yo-yo,” Judy asked, “want to go look

  for turtles?”

  “Can’t. I have to Rock the Baby,”

  said Frank.

  “Baby? What baby?”

  “Then I have to Skin the Cat.”

  “More yo-yo tricks?” said Judy.

  Frank nodded. “I’m on my way to

  the frozen-yogurt shop. Today is the

  Fro-Yo Yo-Yo contest.”

  “Whoa-whoa. Wait a minute. You

  hate contests.”

  “I hate not winning contests,” said

  Frank. “Just once I want to be the

  best-ever, blue-ribbon, one-of-a-kind

  winner at something.”

  Frank walked the dog all the way to

  Fro-Yo World, with Judy right beside

  him.

  9

  .

  Swoosh! Whoosh! Doing! Boing! Fro-Yo

  World was full of Atom Smashers. It

  was full of Flying Saucers. It was full

  of Time Warps and Tidal Waves.

  “Ricky Ricasa!” said Frank, pointing.

  “No way!” said Judy. “Who’s Ricky

  Ricasa?”

  “Mr. Whizz Master himself. Fastest

  Flying Trapeze in the East.”

  “Rare!” said Judy.

  “He’s going to show us his famous

  tricks before the contest. The kid with

  the best yo-yo trick gets to name a

  fro-yo flavor.”

  Just then, Ricky Ricasa got out

  his Super Deluxe Titanium Series 3

  Orbiter.

  10

  .

  Brain Twister!

  Eiffel Tower!

  It gleamed. It glistened. It glinted in

  the light.

  Swish! Swash! Whizzzz! That yo-yo

  popped up off the ground. That yo-yo

  flew through the air. That yo-yo spun

  and swung and twisted and looped.

  Punching Bag!

  When the show was over, the crowd

  went wild.

  “Warm up those yo-yos,” said Ricky

  Ricasa. “Gimme what you got.”

  13

  .

  A guy with a frog voice

  showed off a Shooting Star.

  A girl with ponytails

  Walked the Tightrope.

  A kid with red hair went

  Around the World.

  14

  Then Paisley Parker did the Boingy

  Boing

  —

  with sound effects! The

  Boingy Boing was Expert Level Three.

  She started with a Split Bottom Mount.

  Then she bounced and boinged that

  yo-yo back and forth more than

  sixteen times!

  15

  .

  At last it was Frank’s turn. “My trick

  is called the Flying Skunk. It’s a cross

  between the Shooting Star and the

  Flying Saucer.”

  Frank let his yo-yo drop to the

  floor. He wound the string around

  and around. He pulled back and

  WHAMMO. His yo-yo hung in the air

  for one, two, three seconds, spinning

  madly. Lights blinked and flashed like

  fireworks.

  That skunk was flying!

  16

  .

  At last, Frank flicked his finger to

  call that skunk home. But the yo-yo

  spun out of orbit. It zigged. It zagged.

  That yo-yo went cuckoo!

  “Duck!” Judy yelled.

  Yikes! The runaway string wrapped

  around Frank’s head. The string

  looped over his ear. The string tangled

  up in his glasses. Frank’s glasses

  crashed to the floor. Smasheroo!

  He put them ba
ck on. The blinking

  yo-yo still dangled from his glasses.

  The crowd roared.

  “Looks like this young man got

  skunked,” Ricky Ricasa teased.

  “Good trick. Keep working on that

  landing.”

  18

  .

  Frank plopped beside Judy. “The

  skunk stunk,” said Frank. “And I broke

  my glasses.”

  “You could still win,” said Judy.

  “Drumroll, please,” said Ricky Ricasa.

  “And the winner is . . . everybody! Line

  up for your free mini fro-yo.”

  “But who gets to name that fro-yo

  flavor?” asked Frank.

  “That would be Paisley Parker for the

  Boingy Boing!” Everybody clapped.

  “Oh, man! I wanted to name that

  yogurt the Flying Skunk,” Frank told

  Judy.

  “Skunk fro-yo? P.U.” said Judy.

  Frank stepped up to get his free mini

  cone. It sure was mini. “They should

  name this Thumbelina,” said Frank.

  .

  22

  Paisley Parker was holding a not-

  mini, double-decker, triple-swirl

  fro-yo. It was drip-drip-drippy.

  “Your trick was awesome,” said

  Frank. “And your dismount? Wow. It

  was like a yo-yo somersault.”

  “Thanks,” said Paisley. Her fro-yo

  dripped all over the floor.

  “Don’t you like your fro-yo?” Judy

  asked.

  “I’m allergic,” said Paisley. “But I

  still have to think up a name for it.”

  “I’ll help,” said Frank. He took a

  lick. He took another lick. Lick-lick-

  lick-lick-lick.

  “Any ideas?” asked Paisley.

  “Don’t say Flying Skunk,” said Judy.

  23

  “I’d call this the . . . Yo-Yoing,

  Double-Boing, Banana-Split-

  Destroying Somersault.” Slurp!

  .

  “Guess what,” Frank told Judy. “I’m

  going to enter Cookie in a contest.”

  “A cookie contest?” said Judy. “Let’s

  make snickerdoodles!”

  “Snickerdoodle,” said Cookie the

  parrot.

  “No, I’m going to enter Cookie, my

  parrot, in a contest.”

  The Kooky Cookie Contest

  CHA

  p

  TER

  2

  25

  .

  26

  “What about yo-yos?” Judy asked.

  “I was a yo-yo to think I could win

  a yo-yo contest,” said Frank.

  “Frank’s a yo-yo,” said Cookie.

  “Am not!” said Frank.

  “Frank eats paste,” said Cookie.

  “My sister taught her that one,”

  said Frank.

  “Beddy-bye. Nighty-night,” said

  Cookie.

  “It’s not bedtime,” said Frank.

  “Time to learn a new trick.”

  “What tricks can she

  do?” Judy asked.

  “She can hang

  upside down. She

  can waddle her butt

  to music. And when

  she hears the vacuum

  cleaner, she says,

  ‘Frank’s a poopy

  head.’”

  “Funny! Do

  that one,” said

  Judy.

  .

  “The contest is called Pets Are

  Family. Cookie’s trick has to show that

  she’s a special part of my family.”

  Cookie hopped onto Frank’s arm.

  Frank held out a peanut.

  “Gimme kiss,” said Frank.

  “Waak!” Cookie ruffled her

  feathers.

  28

  “Gimme kiss,” said Frank.

  “Waak!” Cookie bobbed her head

  up and down.

  “Cookie. You can do this,” said

  Frank. “Gimme kiss.”

  .

  “Waak! Gimme kiss,” said Cookie.

  “Mww! Mww! Mww!”

  Judy clapped. “She did it! She even

  made funny smooching sounds.”

  “Good girl,” said Frank. He gave her

  a peanut.

  “Good girl,” said Cookie.

  .

  On the day of the contest, Judy and

  Rocky met Frank at Fur & Fangs.

  “There’s a parrot here named

  Rocky!” said Rocky.

  “Dirty bird. Dirty bird,” said Cookie.

  “What’s the prize, anyway?” asked

  Rocky.

  “Who cares?” said Frank. “Just once

  I want to win a contest like you guys!”

  .

  “What did I ever win?” asked Rocky.

  “You won a trick deck of cards at the

  House of Magic.”

  “I’m a pirate,” said Cookie. “Cap’n

  Cookie.”

  “Stop that,” said Frank.

  “Stop that,” said Cookie.

  Frank frowned at his parrot. “And Judy

  won a famous pet contest,” he said.

  “My cat won,” said Judy.

  “You still got your picture in the

  paper,” Frank said.

  Judy held up her elbow. “I got my

  elbow in the paper.”

  “Welcome to Pets Are Family Day!”

  said Mrs. Birdwistle, the pet store lady.

  “And a warm welcome to our furry

  and feathered friends!”

  34

  .

  36

  There was even a

  dog named Bo who

  could take out the

  trash.

  A guinea pig named

  Dorothy played

  Scrabble. She nudged

  the letters P-I-G with her nose!

  “Frank eats paste,” said Cookie.

  Everybody cracked up.

  Luna, a cat wearing

  glasses, pretended to

  read.

  37

  Everybody clapped. Bo got so excited

  that he knocked over the trash can!

  “Sorry about that,” said his owner.

  “No worries,” said Mrs. Birdwistle.

  “We’ll get this cleaned up in no time.”

  .

  At last it was Cookie’s turn.

  “Dirty bird!” said Cookie. “Dirty

  bird!”

  Cookie perched on Frank’s arm.

  “Hi. My name is Frank Pearl and this is

  Cookie. Our trick is called Gimme Kiss.”

  Frank held
out a peanut. “Ready?

  Gimme kiss.”

  “Lu, lu, lu, lu,” said Cookie.

  38

  “Not lulu,” said Frank. “C’mon,

  Cookie. You can do this. Gimme kiss.”

  RrrooaaRR! Vacuum cleaner!

  Somebody turned on the vacuum to

  clean up the trash.

  .

  “Frank is a poopy head!” sang

  Cookie. She raced up and down

  Frank’s arm. “Poopy head!” Cookie

  hopped up onto Frank’s head,

  flapping her wings wildly. “Frank is

  a big sister.” The crowd went crazy.

  “The vacuum freaks her out,” said

  Frank. He rushed Cookie out the door.

  Judy and Rocky ran after him.

  41

  .

  “You’re a poopy head,” Frank said

  to Cookie.

  “It wasn’t her fault,” said Judy. “It

  was the vacuum cleaner.”

  “There goes another contest down

  the tubes.”

  “Down the tubes!” said Cookie.

  42

  “Cookie, don’t you get it?” Frank

  asked. “I’m mad at you. Don’t say a

  word. Not one more word.”

  Cookie ruffled her feathers. Cookie