Max

by Rachel Isadora

ALA Notable Children's Book

International Reading Association Classroom Choice

A Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

Max is a crack baseball player. Saturday mornings he walks with his sister, Lisa, to her dancing school on his way to the park for his weekly game. One morning Max is early, and Lisa's teacher invites him to join the class. Max stretches at the barre. He struggles for a split. And before he knows it, he's having fun! Young ballplayers and ballet dancers will share Max's delight when he discovers that dance class is a great way to warm up for a home run.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Baseball, Fiction, Sports, Juvenile, Realistic Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1976

About the author

Rachel Isadora is an award-winning children's author and illustrator. She has written children's books on multiple topics including ballet, life in America and Africa, and has illustrated several Brother Grimm tales in an African setting. She is most well-known for her Caldecott Honor Award book "Ben's Trumpet". She was a ballet dancer before she became an illustrator and children's writer.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

So what in my humble opinion is so very positive and delightfully refreshing about Max, about this simple but heartwarmingly sweet little story about how big brother Max becomes interested in ballet is that author and illustrator Rachel Isadora does not ever become preachy and that she also and appreciatively never once attempts to in any manner attempt to force the issue, that she basically allows the concept of boys being interested in and able to do ballet to develop totally organically and naturally (and indeed, that at the end of the story, Max is still a baseball fanatic and a typical "boy" even though he has become interested in and appreciative of ballet and thinks that his sister's ballet lessons are fun and no longer something to be denigrated as girly and silly). And yes, the accompanying illustrations (although they do not especially wow me aesthetically and are visually a bit bland colour wise for my personal tastes), they certainly are full of movement and rhythm and thus of course perfectly do suit the tone and cadence of the presented narrative (as well as the thematics of dancing), both complementing and actually even often expanding on the text. Highly recommended and not just for children either, as I do think that with Max, Rachel Isadora both textually and visually (but without force) tells everyone who might care to listen that learning ballet, that learning how to dance is fun and worthwhile.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Screaming message book a la 1976! But, I found it charming and sweet and realistic too. The joy of dancing is conveyed beautifully and I like baseball too (as a spectator for both, although I used to be a folk dancing fiend). The illustrations are lovely; the story is slight but good, though I hope a bit dated. But, I enjoyed Max and Lisa and the story and the illustrations. I found it so funny when Max gradually starts to participate.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I just read Max again for the first time as an adult and I just loved it! It is even more special than I remembered because it is not heavy-handed with its "message." Although Max is, at first, not excited about ballet class nothing is made of him being a boy--he simply isn't that interested, until he actually goes inside and watches the dancing. Then, he is captivated! ;-) I love that the teacher invites him to join, baseball uniform and all (just had to take off those sneakers!) and that he takes to the movement with such unabashed joy. Love the ending! It's great that he loves ballet *and* baseball and finds a way to pursue both interests (I know that many athletes, even ballplayers, actually do take ballet classes to help them with balance and flexibility, though I don't think it's a great love for most of them, so I was glad to see Max enjoyed dance for dance's sake not just as a means to help his game). Let's just hope he isn't late for his game next time, though! ;-p

The illustrations are such a delight! Even though they are black and white, I feel they just radiate warmth, motion and joy. Love all the ballet steps incorporated. Love the little ballet outfits (only gripe is it looks as if the girls are wearing pointe shoes and little girls of that age should not be wearing pointe shoes--granted we never see them "en pointe" (on their toes) so they may be soft-soled shoes but they do look like point shoes and might make some little dancers wistful for their own pair!) So amazing that this book came out in 1976! It's notable, too, that one of the ballerinas is an African American girl; great to see that in a book of this decade. Rachel Isadora really was ahead of her time in a lot of regards. I still think this book would be enjoyable for both boys and girls today who love to dance.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read Max back in the 70s when it first came out, so I did need a refresher read. I liked that Isadora showed that the little boy could be involved in both baseball and ballet; he did not have to choose one over the other. I liked her energetic illustrations, though (in my opinion), I think color would have made the pictures pop more.

[Kieran]

Max by Rachel Isadora is a simple and sweet story about a young boy named Max who is very good at baseball. This book is realistic fiction. Max is great at every part of baseball, he can jump high, always hits the ball, and can run fast. Every Saturday he has a game and he walks with sister to her dancing school, because it is on the way to the park. One Saturday they are very early and Max’s sister Lisa asks him if he wants to come inside for a little. Max begrudgingly says OK and he sits near the door to watch. Part way through Max seems to show some interest and the teacher asks him to join if he wants to. Max does all the parts of the lesson, and he is having a lot of fun. They all are about to practice their leaps but it is time for Max to have to go to baseball, but he stays and does a great big leap. He leaves after he leaps and then leaps all the way to his baseball game. He is late but everyone was waiting and he goes up to bat and hits a home run! He continues after than to always go to dance before baseball.
This book is very simple in its plot but it does a great job at showing young boys how normal dancing and other stereotypically “female activities,” are for all genders. I think that the sister encouraging the brother to come into the dance class shows boys how it’s totally acceptable to have a positive female role model in their life to look up to or to be friends with girls. I also like this story because the dance instructor asks Max if he wants to join and doesn’t assume because he is a boy that he doesn’t want to. This is crucial because it can show children that there are adults that are willing to encourage any passion regardless of gender. This story also shows the value of trying something you are unsure about, because you never know what our next passion will be.
This book has beautiful black and white pencil illustrations really add to the depth of the story. The characters all have expressive faces and there are details packed into every page that students could be engrossed in. The illustrations add a lot of emotion to the story and make it so the small amount of words on each page can tell a larger story. In addition to the detail in the illustrations, Isadora does a good job representing a range of races in her pictures. All the characters are illustrated in respectful ways and there aren’t any stereotypical features in any of the characters. The plot is simple but its rich in the questions it may make the children think of. The illustrations will engage the students and hold their attention throughout the book, and the writing on each page is simple in structure and age appropriate for early readers. There is a minor conflict in this story and it gets resolved in a realistic way that students can relate to. This book ends in a way where there is a lot left unexplored in the plot. I think this ending is great because it leaves room for class reflection.

[Donna Nadira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max, with a boy doing a grand jete on the cover, is about a boy who usually plays baseball, but stops by at his sister’s ballet class in a twist of his afternoon routine. Max, who initially is uninterested, slowly follows the class activities and ends up enjoying ballet, to the point of leaping his way to his baseball game.
I think the packaging of this story is subtle enough for both strongly-identifying boys and girls. Max comes to ballet class unamused, because he knows that ballet is meant for girls, but ends up enjoying it anyway, without turning himself effeminate (which will be the case if this story follows the stereotype: if you like ballet, then you always are feminine). The entire series of pictures is in black and white, eliminating the opportunity of putting color into gender distinction, i.e dousing the entire ballet studio in pastel pink or the entire baseball field in green and brown.
I think Max does a good job of neutralizing the gender distinctions of these activities (sports for boys, ballet for girls), and does not favor one activity over the other. Children’s books play a big role in keeping traditional gender activity distinctions alive—if it weren’t for fairytales introduced so early in a child’s life, I believe boys will be less likely to consider their love interests as triumphs. Max is a good step into eliminating the taboos of engaging in activities for the opposite gender.

[Peach · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Max" is a simple yet exhilarating realistic fiction book about a little boy that eased his way into his sister's Ballet Class. Max usually plays baseball on Saturdays after he walks with his sister to Ballet classes. One Saturday, Max had extra time to kill before his baseball game. He decided to go inside his sister's Ballet Class to have a look. After watching a little while, Max found himself performing Ballet motions while sitting in the corner of the room. Max eventually joined in on the class. He was so engulfed in the Ballet lesson that he did not know it was time to go to his baseball game. Max's sister looked at the clock and saw it was time for Max to go but Max did not want to miss the leaps in Ballet. Afterwards, he hurried to baseball and hit a home run. Max realized that ballet, which consists of a number of stretching exercises, helped him warm up for baseball. I particularly like this story because many people seem to think that ballet is just for girls. Max may have thought so too since he was always skeptical about going inside the dance studio. This story gives a good moral lesson which lets boys know that sometimes "girly" sports can help them become better at their sports. The pictures are nicely etched, but they lack color. They are black and white. Even though the story is fiction, the author may have correlated her book to her son, Brian, and her grandfather, Max, in which the title could have come from.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A baseball loving boy spends some time in his sister's ballet class. He ends up loving it, especially the leaps. The illustrations are line drawings with no color, but they still convey such movement and energy and enthusiasm. Having just read two other books by Isadora this week (Firebird and Rapunzel), I am impressed by her ability to use a variety of art mediums, art styles, etc. to match the text, setting and emotion of each book. I will definitely be reading more of her work.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was featured as one of the selections for the February 2015 Dance-themed reads for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[Aiyana Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts out very detailed about a young boy who is very talented in the sport baseball. They say is very good at it and is a good brother to his sister Lisa. At first when I started to read this book I imagined a young brother being annoying bothering his sister, who he took to her dance class until he has baseball practice. It states that he simply gets interested in the class with all of his engagement and effort towards the exercises he does. Ideally we do not think baseball players or any male lead sports are interest in female lead sports so we usually assume that the opposite sex would be interested in the sport. In this story it show the audience and the reader that a male figure can enjoy a sport that is not ideally fit for the type go gender. In the end of the story, the young boy max states how he will be going to dance class in order for him to warm up for his big baseball games. Finding this interest in a sport that some people would think is not right nor correct for their type of gender is an issue but this book seems to simple state out how it is accepting and there are no issues to come with it at all. We can all like different sports some maybe be chosen for us but we get to chose to.

[Mili Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute! At a first glance this a very simple cute story about a little boy, Max, who discovers that ballet is not just for girls. However, considering that the story was written back in 1976, it is a forward thinking piece of literature. These days, I find nothing strange about a boy taking ballet, but even in my youth (1990s) any boy who liked to dance was given a derogatory name of one sort or another.

This is a very gender-neutral book about dancing (quite yellow ;-) ) that I think both boys and girls will enjoy.

I read the Aladdin Paperbacks edition. As an artist, I find the pointillism illustrations quite charming, though I sometimes wonder if there is detail lost in the printing of my copy of the book, or if they are supposed to be that fuzzy. I like both Max's grin and his frown. Though the artist is clearly not an animator, the illustrations have a lot of movement.

This is a nice story. The reason I'm not giving it 5 Stars is because for me it does not go beyond nice, and I cannot see myself wanting to reread this book over and over again.

[Katie Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max is all about baseball. He loves the game so much and plays every Saturday. On the way to his games, he drops his little sister off at dance class because it is on the way. One Saturday, he has lots of time before his game so he goes in to watch his sister for a while. The teacher invites Max to participate in the class and he tries it out. Max ends up loving dancing so much he is late for his game, and his teammates are annoyed but then Max hits a home run! Will Max pick baseball or dance? Or will he come up with another solution?

I liked this book because it shows that boys can enjoy activities other than the “typical” ones society says they are supposed to. It also demonstrates the importance of keeping an open mind because you never want what you will enjoy. You can always surprise yourself.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max and his sister share part of a journey on Saturday mornings; Max is on his way to baseball practice and his sister is on her way to ballet class. One Saturday his sister invites him inside. He doesn't really want to go but he does anyway. When the teacher asks him if he'd like to participate he takes off his shoes and lines up at the barre. He stretches, tries the splits and stays later than he should to make sure to try the leaps. He loves it so much he's late to baseball practice. But Max has found a new way to warm-up for baseball practice.

A wonderful anti-gender stereotype book.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: Max is walking his sister to ballet class and has time before the baseball game, so he tries to join the class. He does the splits and a leap, but has to go. Max hits a homerun and decides he is going to warm up that way before every game.

Reflection: Simple quick read. The black and white illustrations are great!

Themes/Connections: Ballet, Baseball

[North Lake County Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute book, well told. The illustrations are closer to what I'd call "fine" than to "kid-friendly," in some ways. Our kids found it hard to focus on the images because they're somewhat monochromatic and hard to distinguish. Beautiful to my adult eyes, but this is one of those cases where I am not the target audience.

[Sarah M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max finds out that he has another interest besides baseball. The author demonstrates that dance can be a great way to get in shape and stretch for other activities. This author, again, has great illustrations to go along with the story.

[Amber Bartram]

This book is about a boy who plays baseball, but goes to ballet practice first! I would use this to talk about how girls can do "boy things" and boys can do "girl things" and should not be made fun of!

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

max stops at his sister's dance class before heading to the ball field. one of the few books which shows a boy enjoying ballet alongside of girls.

[Jen H · Rating 4 out of 5]

A baseball loving boy finds the joy in ballet. Adorable!

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little story that showed baseball players can also enjoy ballet.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations. Story could have used more tension.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorites years ago when my boys were young. I wonder what today's kids think of it?

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young boy learns he loves both ballet and baseball in this cute, gentle book.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different take on the boys doing "girly" things trope.

[Mia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this one for my gender defying kiddo. It hasn't aged well. I found it to be trite. The kids haven't asked to read it again.

[Molly Boyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a boy named Max who becomes interested in ballet. Max loves baseball, but he thinks that a typical "boy" should think that ballet is too "girly". However, he loves his sister's ballet lessons, and he realizes it is alright to love both, no matter his gender! I would put this book on my shelf because I think it sends a really powerful message to children about embracing their interests.

[Debra Arndt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute book that doesn't straight line what is or isn't considered a boys activities. I liked it.

[Lauri Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

a baseball playing boy joins his sister’s ballet class and learns it’s okay to do more than one thing. He also finds ballet gives him more flexibility. Wordless.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max is a young boy who enjoys baseball. He happens upon a ballet class and finds it helps him prepare for his game. A delightful story that pushed gender norms of the time it was published.

[Scott Williams]

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