It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date, and adapted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts with a children’s/YA focus. The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. These weekly roundups are a great way to discover new blogs and bloggers, share titles, and add to your ever-growing to-read list.
I’ve got another fantastic set of picture books coming your way this week! Here we go!
A daddy monster takes his little monster to the monster park for an afternoon of fun and play. But when it’s time to go home, little monster decides he doesn’t want to go!
Working in the children’s section of the library you see these meltdowns each and every day – they’re just a fact of life for little ones! This happy rhyming book with its colourful little monsters embraces little ones in all their exuberance, whether they’re squealing with laughter or rolling on the floor in a tantrum. They might drive us bonkers sometimes, but we still love them to bits.
It’s also really nice to see a little one spending the day with a beloved daddy – when the little monster skins his knee, he cries out for his daddy, who quickly makes everything better. It’s refreshing to see a dad taking on a role traditionally limited to mothers by soothing and comforting an upset child. Spotlighting male caregivers in picture books helps to chip away at longstanding gender biases and limitations – being patient and loving has nothing to do with a person’s gender, and everything to do with a person’s heart.
https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453059498l/27833832.jpg
Paula and Maggie have been friends since they were little, but when mean girl Veronica decides that Maggie is too fat and starts teasing her, Paula abandons her life-long friend and sides with the mean girl. When she finds herself Veronica’s next target, though, Paula discovers what it means to be a friend.
My Friend Maggie realistically portrays elementary school relationships, and the story wears its anti-bullying message lightly.
Here’s a quote from a Goodreads review that gave me pause for thought, though:
….There’s a page where the main character says “and her clothes are a little snug” with a picture of this elephant trying to put on clothes that are too small for her, and that’s the page that completely lost me. Because there’s this persistent idea that of course fat people can’t dress themselves and all their clothes don’t fit.
That page frames Maggie as “the fat girl”, and with that framing device all the other things they pick on Maggie about take on a slightly different tone. Because there are a lot of stereotypical ideas that are used to shame fat people; they’re clumsy, their clothes don’t fit, they’re loud. All these things are said about Maggie and no where in this story are those things refuted. Maggie just continues to be a friend to the main character. And that’s the last stereotype, right? The idea of the kind, loyal, fat girl.
Having been the fat kid for much of my life (who was mercilessly teased throughout elementary school), I could see where this reviewer was coming from. Poor old Maggie seems to exist primarily as a plot device that allows Paula, the “normal” kid, to learn an important lesson. Even Maggie’s best friend seems to use her – much of Paula and Maggie’s friendship is based on the many things that Maggie does for Paula. Growing up fat and teased, the life lesson we often end up with is that we should be happy to have any friends at all, even if they don’t treat us with respect.
I still think My Friend Maggie is a beautiful picture book, and the illustrations are breathtakingly detailed and add so much emotion and heart to the story. Paula is a realistic and empathetic character, and a lot of readers will be able to see themselves reflected in her, both in her strengths and her weaknesses. I just wish fat characters could get a little more respect in children’s books.
John Agee’s It’s Only Stanley has long been a favourite of mine for its droll sensibility and deadpan humour, and Lion Lessons has simply reinforced my admiration for this talented author/illustrator. Agee has a distinct talent for creating stories that are at once ridiculous and relatable – a little boy signs up for lion lessons from a suit-wearing, clipboard-carrying lion. As one does. But being meek and gentle, the little boy just doesn’t seem to have what it takes to be a lion, until the final lesson, Looking Out for Your Friends, provides him with the opportunity to earn both his Lion Diploma and the adoration of the neighbourhood cats.
Agee’s delivery is once again brilliantly deadpan – his absurdist scenario is depicted with such understated simplicity that the whole thing seems practically run-of-the-mill, which is where the real humour lies. Nothing about Lion Lessons hits you over the head or tries to distract you with crazy bells and whistles. This is good old fashioned absurdity in the classic tradition of William Steig, Peter Bown, even Maurice Sendak. Understated, sweet, and a lot of fun to share aloud, Lion Lessons really is a winning picture book.
Have a great reading week, everyone!
Delightful picture books, so creative.
I’m always so inspired by picture book creators – they’ve got such incredible imaginations!
My Friend Maggie does sound problematic. Issues dealing with weight change so quickly that it’s hard to be on trend. On the bright side, things have changed. When I was a chubby 6 year old, my pediatrician told my mother I had to lose 10 pounds! I was rewarded for every three pounds lost with an Avon perfume pin. There was a lot of shame involved, but it has certainly kept me from gaining weight as an adult!
I love picture books, and all of these are new to me. Thanks for sharing them.
https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-read-thon-is-coming-and-my-cybils.html#comment-form
Hurray, I love sharing new books!
I love the front cover of Monster Park, sounds like a fun read my two young boys would love!
I’m sure they’ll love pretending to be boisterous little monsters! 🙂
My three year old granddaughter is coming for a visit soon. I think she would like Monster Park.
It’s super cute, and lots of fun, and as a grandma I’m sure you’ve seen more than a few “I don’t want to go!” tantrums in your life. 🙂
Great picks! We just got My Friend Maggie and Lion Lessons in at our public library. I haven’t seen the Monster Park book yet! I’ll have to check it out. Great post!
Thanks so much for stopping by! 😀
Lovely picture books! I love how the illustrated story can bring messages to children…and adults. Thanks for sharing, and enjoy. Thanks for visiting my blog.
So, so true – picture books are so inspiring because they can have so many layers of meaning to different readers.
I’m glad you posted that from the reviewer of Maggie. That book was tough for me to review because I didn’t know my thoughts. I have struggled with my weight my entire life. I don’t overeat, I work out everyday. I am cursed with a horrible metabolism and must eat perfectly. I’ve also learned that while I can be perfect for awhile, I can’t stay perfect. But I would so hate to be judged by that. And like the reviewer was saying, while the other character could overlook things, they were still pointed out. Very interesting.
YES – I felt so conflicted. I loved the gentleness of the story, and I felt the relationship between the children was very natural and realistic, but the treatment of Maggie just hit a little too close to home for me, having been Maggie for much of my life.
I think you have struck a chord with the problems about weight in My Friend Maggie. Fat shaming has no place in children’s literature. There is more than enough of it out there in the main stream media to deal with!
So many of us relate to characters like Maggie, who all too often seem to exist only to teach “normal” or “mainstream” kids life lessons. I grew up feeling like I should settle for anything, like I couldn’t demand more out of friends, jobs, romantic partners because as a fat girl I should just be happy to have anything at all, though happily I think the times are finally changing.
These are all nice looking picture books. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
I love the look of Monster Park!
It’s very cute and lots of fun, and most grown ups will definitely recognize the “I don’t want to go home!” tantrums… 😉
What a great collection of picture books – each looks like such fun!
I’ll look for Lion Lessons, Jane, and thank you for bringing up the issues with My Friend Maggie. I thought it was a cute book, & now I will look again at it, and all books for the stereotype we don’t want to perpetuate. I’m sorry I didn’t catch this one. Thanks for all your other recommendations, too.
Thanks so much, Linda! I still think My Friend Maggie is a sweet book, and it would work even better as part of a conversation with kids on how to treat and talk about each other.
I loved My Friend Maggie! There is no other book out there that I’ve seen that teaches that specific lesson.
I have not read the other two, but they both look like books I’d definitely enjoy!
Happy reading this week 🙂
They’re all great books in their different ways! 🙂
Monster Park sounds like a very sweet book. Thanks for sharing your thoughts (and the reviewers) thoughts about My Friend Maggie. Even with anthropomorphic characters, it’s important to think about the implications.
So true – that’s why it’s so important for grownups to talk with kids about what they’re reading and how it makes them feel. Picture books can touch us all in different ways and have different meaning.
Lion Lessons looks wonderful Will now be on the lookout for this one!
I love the illustrations from My Friend Maggie and Lion Lessons. They just look so appealing! I have always loved elephants so I know I would have liked My Friend Maggie as a child.
These books look fantastic. Definitely adding them to my wish list. Thanks!
(And I definitely agree with spotlighting dads being caregivers and comforters.)