Maria and the Magic of the Rainbow, by Suzanna Royse (Fulton Books, 126 pp, 2022, $15.95, ages 5-9) Reviewed by Skye Anderson.
Maria and the Magic of the Rainbow starts out with a pictorial glossary of the major characters - all 30 of them, drawn on eight pages. So, right now you are probably wondering what does that mean for the book?
For Girls and Boys
With a girl butterfly with only one wing, and so many characters, most of them bugs, this book is sure to entertain both girls and boys: Maria for the girls and all the bugs for the boys (and girls).
Maria has a beautiful voice and is the employee (slave?) of a mean old bad guy, but friends help her to escape and then she gets to go to school. But just like some schools for humans, this school is where our Maria meets bullies. What the bullies do and how Maria and friends react make a meaningful story for youngsters and, even better, the bugs are written true-to-life. For example, author Suzanna Royse tells us the red ants can't swim across the river so our heroes are safe. True fact.
Kids who love bugs will soon learn all the bugs' names and kids who don't like bugs will probably change their mind as bad bugs somehow become good bugs. We would have liked cuter bugs, however.
What's in a Name?
We loved the names: Rumble and Stinger and Twig. Flicker and Blinker the fireflies, Radar the bat and even Spitz the snake.
And, The Rainbow?
One has to read the entire book before the significance of the title is revealed but then it is so lovely and obvious that kids will be able to transfer the lessons of this story to their own lives or that of other kids they know.
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