Melonhead and the Big Stink
by Katy Kelly
illustrated by Gillian Johnson
Melonhead and the Big Stink is a hilarious chapter book for kids who like funny characters with a knack for getting into trouble – and I don’t know any kids who don’t. Think of this as an updated and more clever Dennis the Menace.
On the last day of fourth grade we meet Adam Melon (Melonhead) and his best buddy Sam who begin the summer vacation with “The List of Doom,” created by Melonhead’s mother and designed to help Melonhead make good decision, and, therefore, not get into so many….situations.
The List
1. NO walking on roofs.
2. NO climbing trees.
3. NO putting things in your nose.
4. NO snakes.
5. NO rodents
6. NO playing in the yard until after the Capital Hill House & Garden Tour and Contest.
7. NO haircuts by nonprofessionals.
The list is based upon past experience, but Melonhead and Sam assume the summer is basically over if they can’t do anything on the list. They always seem to find new adventures like saving ducks in a fountain that don’t need saving, releasing 500 ladybugs in the kitchen, turning curtain rods into harpoons that fly out the window, and inventing a game called “fenceball” involving pelting each other with tennis balls. These all end up being additions to the List of Doom.
According to Melonhead and Sam, the only way to save the summer is a trip to the New York Botanical Gardens for the blooming of the titan arum, also known as the bunga bangkai, which is a six-foot tall flower that blooms once every 75 years and smells like a dead, rotting mammal. This is the "big stink," and who wouldn't be up for a trip to New York City to see that?
In order to go see the big stink, Melonhead and Sam decide they better be on their best behavior and to use their own self-improvement plan, the Boys’ Improvement Guide For Acting Responsible Till Stink Saturday or B.I.G.F.A.R.T.S.S. And they try to stay out of trouble. They really do. But they are just so darn good at it.
Writer Katy Kelly has a great knack for dialogue that kids and big folks will both enjoy. It’s quick and light-hearted and keeps moving – important for young readers working on chapter books. Melonhead and Sam zing lines back and forth at each other – often calling each other crazy rhyming names
“I’m ready, Freddie.”
“We rock, Jock.”
“E-Z P-Z like Parcheesi.”
“Let’s go, Moe.”
“No sweat, Claudette.”
“We’ll see, Flea.”
“But I’m still going to win, Flynn.”
The best and funniest moments in the book come when Melonhead is working for their neighbor Mrs. Wilkins.
“Stop slouching and go up to the attic,” she said.
“Really?” I said. “This is my lucky day!”
“I don’t care for sarcasm,” she said.
“I might not either,” I told her. “What is it?
Or when Melonhead suggests he get some friends to come over and help. Mrs. Wilkins doesn’t like the idea.
“One boy is one boy,” she said. “Two boys is half a boy. And three boys is no boy at all.”
Melonhead and the Big Stink is a great companion to classics like Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Super Fudge by Judy Bloom. I especially recommend Melonhead as a great book for dad to read at bedtime. The chapters are short and fast and fun, and you get to say B.I.G.F.A.R.T.S.S almost every chapter.
Lexile: 400
ISBN-10: 044042187X
ISBN-13: 9780440421870
Published: Yearling, 05/11/2010
Pages: 240
Recommended Reading Level Minimum Age: 8
Maximum Age: 12
Minimum Grade Level: 3rd Grade
Maximum Grade Level: 7th Grade
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