From Publishers Weekly
In four vignettes, Marigold, a strong-willed young monkey, talks back to her mother, torments her closest friend and cheerfully gets away with everything as she asserts her individual style. The first story follows her on a shopping expedition to replace her old, patched purple coat: Marigold rejects frilly and silly offerings and goes for an exact but too small duplicate of the first coat, eccentrically accessorized; her fashion sense is rewarded when everyone admires her. In subsequent tales, Marigold concocts elaborate illustrated lists, one of which names the old coat as her best friend and rates her actual friend, a hippo named Maxine, a close second. As depicted in McElmurry's (
Little Blue Truck) stylish spreads, a blend of up-to-the-minute humor and nostalgic, folklike patterning, Marigold has a long prehensile tail and spiky rust-colored hair that she sometimes wears in topknots. Heide (the Treehorn books) introduces a stubborn, potentially maddening character, but Marigold's sunny disposition and creativity make up for her mischief; she will ring true for friends and parents of inventive children. Ages 4–8.
(Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2—You might say that Marigold, a young monkey, walks to the beat of a different drummer, or even that she is just plain contrary. In the first of four stories, she resists giving up her worn-out purple coat when her mother wants to replace it. It is only when she finds another one that she gives in, even though the new purple coat doesn't fit her. She wears the old garment to bed. In the following two stories, Marigold playfully teases her friend Maxine, a hippo who has firm ideas on how things should work. In the last story, when the two head off for their first day of school, Maxine has a new outfit and a new hairdo. Marigold pretends that she does, too, but won't take off her old coat or hat. Maxine decides to go home for something she "forgot" and returns wearing a raincoat and cap that she won't take off, either. The obstreperous protagonist is refreshing in her contrariness. The stylized, cartoonlike gouache illustrations add humor and panache to characters that are imbued with personality. Maxine and Marigold are solid proof that opposites attract.—
Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
