Be Quiet, Marina! [Hardcover]

Kirsten Debear (Author), Laura Dwight (Illustrator), Kirsten De Bear (Author), Laura Dwight (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Meet Marina. She is a four-year-old who likes to dance, play with dolls, go on the see-saw, and dress up. She also screams and shouts and makes a lot of noise.

Meet Moira. She is also a four-year-old who likes to do the same things that Marina likes to do. But she likes quiet and when Marina makes a lot of noise, she is freightened. She runs away when Marina makes a lot of noise.


At first, Marina, who has cerebral palsy, and Moira, who has down syndrome, could not play together because of their differences. But eventually the two girls become best friends.

The story of the friendship that develops between Marina and Moira is written with accessible language and includes expressive pictures that will captivate all children.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Be Quiet, Marina! has wonderful illustrations and a realistic story told with sympathy. This book is appropriate for any regular or special needs preschool and kindergarten, or for your home. A gentle way to introduce the concepts of moderating noise and behavior with your friends, and of standing up for yourself. --Mothering Magazine

Illustrated with the black and white photography of Laura Dwight, Kirsten DeBear's Be Quiet, Marina! is an engaging picture book for very young children with a different look, as it tells the story of the noisy four-year-old girl Marina and the much quieter four-year-old girl Moira. Marina has cerebral palsy, and Moira has down syndrome. At first Marina and Moira could not play because Moira was frightened of [the loud noises Marina made]. But eventually Marina and Moira become best friends in a story to be treasured. The text consists of simple sentences printed in big, bold black letters, making Be Quiet, Marina! the perfect book on a sensitive social subject for young people just beginning to learn how to read. --Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Kirsten DeBear is an early childhood educator who based this story on a real incident in her school.

Laura Dwight is a well-known photographer [of children]. She is the author of six books, notably the award-winning, We Can Do It.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Star Bright Books; 1 edition (September 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887734791
• ISBN-13: 978-1887734790
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning about friendship, May 7, 2002

By 

Bernadette Moran (Jacksonville, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Be Quiet, Marina! (Hardcover)

I enjoyed reading this book to the 1st graders at my daughter's school. The children at this age are searching for friendship but are still hesitant to embrace it when they find it. The book gave me many opportunities to talk about how Moira and Marina had problems to work out in their friendship but when they worked on it, spoke honestly to one another about how they felt, they were able to have fun and enjoy being together. The disabilities of Marina and Moira also gave the children even more to discuss about differences - not just disabilities but it let to discussions on race, color, weight, family composition, religion and other perceived obstacles to friendship.
In all, the many photos of the girls made the book interesting for the children and the flow of the story made it a great tool for discussion and learning.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect book on a sensitive social subject, November 5, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Be Quiet, Marina! (Hardcover)

Illustrated with the black and white photography of Laura Dwight, Kirsten DeBear's Be Quiet, Marina! is an engaging picture book for very young children with a different look, as it tells the story of the noisy four-year-old girl Marina and the much quieter four-year-old girl Moira. Marina has cerebral palsy, and Moira has Down syndrome. At first Marina and Moira could not play because Moira was frightened of Marina's noise. But eventually Marina and Moira become best friends, in a story to be treasured. The text consists of simple sentences printed in big, bold black letters, making Be Quiet, Marina! the perfect book on a sensitive social subject for young people just beginning to learn how to read.

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique and joyful book, January 12, 2008

By 

Julie Olsen Edwards (Santa Cruz, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Be Quiet, Marina! (Hardcover)

Just read this to a group of four year olds. "They got to be friends!" shouted Anil. "They was so different - they got mad - but they got to play" was Melissa's comment. Kids LOVE this book. And it's one of the rare ones that portrays kids with special needs as kids first - disability second. Terrific!