Author: Ed Vere
Illustrator: Ed Vere
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication Date: September 8th, 2015
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book
GoodReads Summary: Max is a fearless kitten. Max is a brave kitten. Max is a kitten who chases mice. There's only one problem-Max doesn't know what a mouse looks like! With a little bit of bad advice, Max finds himself facing a much bigger challenge. Maybe Max doesn't have to be Max the Brave all the time...
Join this adventurous black cat as he very politely asks a variety of animals for help in finding a mouse. Young readers will delight in Max's mistakes, while adults will love the subtle, tongue-in-cheek humor of this new children's classic.
About the Author/Illustrator: Ed Vere is an author, artist and illustrator with a long track record of success in the picture book category. Max the Brave was named one of The Sunday Times’s 100 Modern Children’s Classics. His book Bedtime for Monsters was shortlisted for the2011 Roald Dahl Funny Prize and Mr Big was chosen by Booktrust as the official Booktime book for 2009 (and was distributed to 750,000 British schoolchildren making it the largest single print run of a picture book). Vere was the World Book Day illustrator for 2009.
What I Think: I'm in love with Max! He's super adorable and so full of spunk that readers will fall in love with him whether they are cat lovers or not. When it comes to characterization, Max the Brave is an example of how it's possible to tell so much about a character in two sentences. Of course, the rest of the book elaborates and helps readers get a better sense of Max and who he is but it is possible to pack a lot of punch in only a couple of sentences.
The illustrations are vibrant and simple but powerful as well. Reading Max the Brave offers an opportunity to talk to students about illustrations, how they support the text, and what choices or moves the artist might have made to impact the story.
Readers will be rooting for Max, cracking up at his misunderstanding, worried about him and then cheering for him all over again as he goes along on his adventure. Reading Max the Brave is also a perfect opportunity to practice prediction as the story moves along. I read with Peanut and Little Bean and we had a blast trying to guess what was going to happen next. This will be a perfect read aloud for a super hero themed event...get our your super hero capes!
Visit Sourcebooks' Max the Brave website where you can access an activity kit and the educator guide. And be sure to follow @ed_vere and @jabberwockykids on Twitter!
Read Together: Grades Pre-K - 5
Read Alone: Grades Pre-K - 2 Read With: I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman, Pardon Me by Daniel Miyares, Boris and the Snoozebox by Leigh Hodgkinson, Won Ton and Won Ton and Chopstick by Lee Wardlaw
Snatch of Text:
"Max looks so sweet that sometimes
people dress him up with bows.
Max does not like being
dressed up with bows."
Topics Covered: Courage, Determination, Self-Awareness
I *heart* It:
*Thanks to Sourcebooks for
a copy of this title and the opportunity for a giveaway
in exchange for an honest review!*
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