Customer Reviews

Mary McLean and the St. Patrick's Day Parade

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This is a story of a little girl who searches for a four leaf clover so she can be in the St. Patrick's Day Parade. The fantasy and excitement of a leprechaun appeals to my students. It lends very nicely to creative writing in the classroom. This is a must, especially for primary teachers.

It is 1849 and Mary Mclean and her family are fresh off the boat from Ireland. Mary is excited to hear about stories and traditions from Ireland that are told by other members of the Irish community where she lives. One of the things she gets told about is the St. Patrick's Day parade. Mary is excited about this and all the stuff that surrounding it. More than anything, she wants to be part of it so she asks Mr. Finnegan, a local shop owner, if she can ride on his cart in the parade with him. Mr. Finnegan agrees but only if Mary McLean can find a perfect shamrock. This is an almost impossible task because it is winter. Mary searches and searches and she can't find one. She finally stumbles across a leprechaun who says he'll give her one later. Months later, he is back the day before St. Patrick's Day. Mary captures him and asks for the promised shamrock. The leprechaun says he lost it and tricks Mary into turning away. Mary goes home dejected. Her father comes home with a surprise! He found a shamrock for her and Mary is able to be in the parade. She's very happy.
This book is priceless. The artwork is fabulous and reminiscent of Norman Rockwell. The artwork is very engaging. Each page is laid out exactly the same. On the left side, there is the text. On the right side, there is a color illustration. The moral of the story seems to be that good things do happen to good people. This is a wonderful theme. It also seems to have a theme of good things happen to those who wait. This is something important to instill in children because so often they want things right now this very instant. The story line is entertaining and easy to follow. It is a wonderful book to read.

ISBN 059043702x - Once you get past Christmas, the holiday book choices tend to get very thin for kids, which makes the ones I do find all that much more enjoyable. St Patrick's Day was almost tailor made for children's stories.

In 1849, after several years of failed crops in Ireland, Mr. McLean and his wife packed up their family and headed to America. Once there, they settled in New York, in an area with a lot of other Irish immigrants. Mary hears vague stories about what Mr. Finnegan does each year for the St. Patrick's Day parade and, when she asks for details, learns that he drives a cart pulled by two white horses and looks like an Irish hero. Mary would really like to ride in Mr. Finnegan's cart. When she asks him, Mr. Finnegan says it's possible - but she'll have to bring him a perfect shamrock... IF she can find one!

There are a couple things about this book that, as an adult, bugged me. McLean, for one thing, is a Scottish name. Surely Steven Kroll, the author, could have come up with an Irish name for his Irish family! Also, despite coming to America from Ireland and living in an Irish neighborhood, the people in the book never discuss the meaning or celebration of St. Patrick's Day, which is - at the very least - a missed opportunity.

Kroll's text is fairly simple, appropriate for the 6 to 9 age group that the book is for, according to the cover. The author also improves upon the book by including some actual, historical facts about Ireland, St. Patrick's Day and Saint Patrick, in the back. Illustrator Michael Dooling gets high praise from me. His images take up the entirety of every other page in this oversized book and that's a lot of canvas to fill. A majority of the illustrations are (Norman) Rockwellian, very simple and plain and perfect for the era the story is set in.

- AnnaLovesBooks