Marvin One Too Many

Marvin

by Katherine Paterson, Jane Clark Brown (Illustrator)

Share the love of reading with your beginner reader! I Can Read books are widely recognised as the premier line of beginner readers. Inaugurated in 1957 with Else Holmelund Minarik's Little Bear , illustrated by Maurice Sendak, the series has grown to over 200 titles, which include mysteries, adventure stories, poetry, historical fiction and humour. Featuring award–winning authors and illustrators, and a fabulous cast of classic characters, I Can Read books introduce children to the joy of reading independently. It is the first day of school, and Marvin is scared. Everyone seems to know where to go – except Marvin. Everyone seems to have a place in class – except Marvin. And everyone seems to know how to read – except Marvin. Marvin's struggle with reading will ring true to reluctant and eager readers alike, and all will share his triumph in Katherine Paterson's reassuring story, the third about this popular character. Ages 5–7

Genres: Childrens, School

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Katherine Womeldorf Paterson is an American writer best known for children's novels, including Bridge to Terabithia. For four different books published 1975–1980, she won two Newbery Medals and two National Book Awards. She is one of four people to win the two major international awards; for "lasting contribution to children's literature" she won the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing in 1998 and for her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2006, the biggest monetary prize in children's literature. Also for her body of work she was awarded the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in 2007 and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the American Library Association in 2013. She was the second US National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, serving 2010 and 2011.

Reviews

[Brittney Warf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvin One Too Many is a decent book. I honestly wanted to cry because Marvin felt like an outcast and such a burden to his family and teacher. This book didn't make me smile until the last few pages when his father said he was the last one to read in his class as well; then his father started to help him read. This book reminded me of how my dad used to help me read as a young child. If you want a book that motivates you then this story is a great one to read!

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvin One Too Many by Katherine Paterson, Illustrator Jane Clark Brown- Hind Language translation by Arvind Gupta- Children’s Illustrated Colour Picture Book- The book narrates the story of Marvin, a new entrant child in School. Marvin has been admitted to school. His elder sister May is already studying in this school. In the morning, his sister May leaves Marvin in front of his class. Marvin enters the class. His class teacher welcomes him. The class is identifying alphabets. Marvin does not know alphabets. Each child has been allotted a word of his first name. Teacher informs Marvin that he will get his alphabet M tomorrow. He must learn with his classmates. Each student knows how to identify alphabets except Marvin. Marvin is struggling with reading. At home, he requests his sister to help him but she is busy with school home work. Next day, Marvin gets M letter and starts learning but he does not show much interest. Marvin wishes that it should snow so that he does not have to go to school. Marvin’s parents own a Diary. Buffaloes have to be milked by machines, milk has to loaded on milk vans and taken to the city for distribution by a company. His parents help Marvin to learn the alphabet. They educate him that he should not hide behind the argument that during snow he will not attend school. The reason is that if snow falls, electricity supply will have hampered, Cows would not be milked, their work would stop. Marvin’s father and sister spared time in the evening and night and taught him letters. Marvin also developed interest and started loving to go to school. Coloured illustrations help the reader to relate to the story. I have read the Hindi language translation of this book.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

On his first day of school, Marvin is off to a very rough start. He keeps comparing himself to others, with them always doing better than him. Will this slim Easy Reader offer Marvin the chance to improve?

My most enduring impression of the whole book is that of Marvin's highly unprofessional, first, first grade teacher. How does Ms. Brown greet him?

Then the teacher said: "One more?
That is one too many!

Marvin thought his teacher didn't like him.
I sure didn't think much of that teacher.

Marvin's Dad, on the other hand, was a wise man. He knew just how to encourage his son.

FIVE STARS for a very human story, in a world where nobody's perfect. Yet life can still be good.

[Brittany Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, "Marvin One Too Many" was a much smaller book than other picture books. It's vertical layout seems to make it appear like a novel book, but much smaller. Initially, i noticed that the illustrations for the book looked like a color pencil drawing. There was great care in terms of shading, which made the pictures look beautiful. The text was larger and widely spaced out, perfect for beginning readers so they can see clearly the each individual word. On the cover, i noticed immediately that Marvin was the child drawn in the center. He looked unhappy seated in between two happy children and he was shaded in a dark purple as opposed to the other children's blue. The cover, title, and illustrations seem to portray a story of Marvin, who feels isolated at school for a number of reasons. He feels like he is just one too many in his classroom. There is no wrap around illustration on the cover or the back, but there is an image of Marvin hitting another child. This shows the confrontation Marvin will get into due to his feeling of isolation. The lack of boarders around the illustrations seems to allow the pictures to seemingly cover the whole page without overpowering the text. There is a different picture on each side, which allows the young reader to see the story unfold along with the words. There is not a huge amount of diversity in the people in the images. Not many racial groups are presented, but both gender groups are. The characters do not interact with the reader, never making eye contact or addressing them. The amount of images the book contained certainly slowed me down in my reading, I wanted to look at the picture and then read the text on each page. The drawings are however, appropriate. The pictures help convey Marvin’s sad and lonely mood. The text is laid out in a chronological order. You see how Marvin becomes isolated in his class because he cannot read, then the events that follow, up until he begins to grasp reading. I found it interesting that when the power goes out, Marvin becomes his saddest and decides he will never read. The images get darker to represent that and the missing power. I liked that there was an emphasis on Marvin's family helping him read, afterall, it is much easier for a child to learn to read with the help of their family. I also like that the setting was a rural one. Marvin's family lived on a dairy farm, and the author mentioned how hard it is to find time to help Marvin read with such busy parents. It was a true to life story for children. There is a great story to this book as well, letting the reader know that sometimes reading can be challenging, but even if you are not the first person to pick it up, you can’t give up.

[Katy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Marvin One Too Many is about a boy who feels like a burden to others. At first, he makes his sister late to school. Then, his teacher seems upset because he is an extra student. Marvin is laughed at during school and then goes home and feels that his parents are too busy for him. After being made fun of for several days at school, Marvin results to violence and punches a boy in his class. Marvin struggles throughout the whole book because he cannot read and he feels like an outcast. In the last few pages of the book, Marvin finally stops getting made fun of and his dad sits down to read with him until Marvin feels better. I rated this book with a one star review. I enjoyed all of the illustrations. I feel that they were exactly the pictures that were needed for the story. However, I feel that the book was very hard on Marvin. The whole book all I could do was feel bad for Marvin and be mad that the teacher was doing nothing to help. She didn't help with the bullying or the reading and I feel that any other teacher would have done something to help her student. I also feel that this book is too sad for children to be reading. For 32 pages of the book, a little boy is feeling horrible about himself and nobody is there to help him. I personally feel that children should not read a book where they feel bad about something and cannot go to the teacher for help. The storyline however, was good. I appreciated that his father eventually helped him to read.

[Syndi Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about Marvin Gates. He is starting school but feels left out since the class is full and he is the extra student in that class. Also, he cannot read like the other students that know how to read. The other students make fun of him when he makes a mistake because he doesn't know. Soon, Marvin begins to hate school and reading. A snow storm occurs and that causes the school to be cancelled for the day. This is when changes start to happen for Marvin. The pictures in the book look like they were drawn with color pencils. Also, the pictures do not take up most of the page. A common color throughout the book is different shades of green. The font of the words are big and easy to read and tend to be towards the top and bottom of the page. A reader can find this book under the Beginning Reader section since it is a bit longer than other picture books. The words explain the pictures better and explain what Marvin is feeling in certain/new situations. Children can relate to this story because everyone has something that they need to work on more than other things. Overall, this book is a good read.

[Nada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvin One Too Many by Katherine Paterson is an early reader book designed to look like a chapter book about a boy's first day of school and the feeling of defeat and after realizing he is the only student in his class who doesn't know how to read. Marvin feels as though reading is "dumb" and refuses to ask his parents for help because he feels that they are "too busy". After being snowed-in one day, Marvin's sister, May, decides to help him read. The story ends with a powerful lesson and reminder which is that no child is the same and that all children learn to read at different paces.

The first thing that caught my eye while reading this story was the way phonics was integrated. I felt like it was a great idea, however, the words were separated phonemically odd and in a way I have never seen before. This story is simple and has the great element of repetition for children of the age group for which it was written. The illustrations are simple but convey the story well. You will enjoy this book and the relation many kids will have with it.

[Mayra Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvin One Too Many By Katherine Paterson
When reading this book I felt sad for Marvin, he felt so alone because he was like an extra. Since he felt bad at school he was unable to learn. He hated that all the children made fun of him because he couldn’t read. He was waiting for the day he wouldn’t have to go like a snow day. That day finally came, but he cried because he thought it was his fault that his parents were having a hard time at the farm. He started to cry and told his parents that he wished for the storm because he didn’t want to go to school. The parents asked what was wrong and when they found out it was reading they started to help him. He felt better when he knew that his father was the last of his class to learn to read. Now, he couldn’t wait to go to school. Throughout the book I felt sad for him until the end when he finally starts to read.

[Stacie]

This is an I Can Read book I found when I went to the library with my daughter. I picked it up because I know Sharon is on a Katherine Patterson kick. Katherine Patterson's primer book is really amazing. Marvin One Too Many is about Marvin, who lives on a dairy farm and struggles with reading. Patterson shows the conflict first-grade Marvin feels as he realizes he is slow and seeminlgly can't learn to read. Marvin feels like he can't ask his parents to help him each night as the teacher requested; his parents are just too busy on the dairy farm. When Marvin's father finds out about his trouble in school, he explains he was the last in his class to read and starts reading with Marvin every night.

Cute book and proof Patterson can touch people at all levels.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

It bothers me that the name Gelett Burgess is not mentioned - not in the text, not in the illustrations, not in the acknowledgments, the dedication, nowhere at all - despite the fact that his classic "Purple Cow" poem is included in its entirety in this book. I understand that 1895 was a long time ago and that the poem is no longer under copyright, but that doesn't mean that the author is unknown or that this is some "traditional" work. It's just a courtesy to help readers who might want to know that these words were not invented by Katherine Paterson. Maybe readers would want to seek out more of Burgess's inventive writings. But how would they know to even look?

[Jordyn Mcleod]

This story reminds me a lot of a little boy that I used to babysit for. Except he didn't struggle so much with reading, he struggled with math. While he was at school he would get very upset when the student around him would make the connection and the little light bulbs would go off in their heads but he would sit there in confusion not understanding how to complete the problems. Children need to understand that not everyone learns at the same pace and that it's okay if it takes them a bit longer to understand something in school and that they need to keep try and not give up.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a level 3 reader. A perfect book for a child trying to 'fit in' for any reason. But in this book Marvin feels like he's one too many being left out and teased about not being able to read. He knows his parents are to busy on their dairy farm (he feels) to help him read every night like is teacher suggests. But after a snow storm comes he finally tells his parents why he's upset. His Dad tells him it will be okay because he was the last in his class to learn to read and he will read with him every night. And at the end he learns to read.

[Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful book on the anxiety children often feel about reading specially when they're "behind" the level expected, but book offers a positive outlet that if we take the resposibilit as parents and teachers to read to our children often they will become better readers themselves. I was once told never to ask my children to do something they don't see me doing so I had to fall in love with reading all over again so they could see me reading also.

[Morgan Leech · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book because it touches base on the anxiety that chilcren sometimes get while reading, especially when they're not as advanced as theyre expected. The book also offers a positive subject that if we take the resposibility as children's peers to read to our children, often they will become better readers themselves. I was once told that I wasn't at the same reading level as majority of my class, so this book hit a sensitive subject for me and brought by certain childhood memories.

[Katrina Yazzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was good. It is about a boy named Marvin who doesn’t know how to read. He goes to school and kids make fun of him. He thought he was one too many. He felt that he didn’t belong because he couldn’t read. He learns how to read when the help of his father. The illustrations were colored in colored- pencils. There is not that much text and the text is big enough to easily read. Some of the words are used more than once throughout the story.

[Rida · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book at all. I mean sure it's to help young kids read and all but seriously they could have picked a better title and the first chapter was also confusing! What does the author mean by one too many. At first I thought that there will be another Marvin in the class so it would be hard to call "Marvin" without the both students saying "Yes!"

But this was completely different. Still for younger students I suppose it is a good book!

[Corinne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Struggling readers can identify with Marvin in this easy reading book. Marvin is a farm boy at a new school who gets lost, isn't on the class list, and can't read. Colored pencil illustrations break up text.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book to read aloud with young readers, especially reluctnant ones. Our girls couldn't understand why Marvin didn't like books, so it was good to help them see how some children don't get read to very much and/or struggle with their reading.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son really got a good kick out of this book. We read it twice in one setting and I am sure he would wants to read it again and again.

[Sun Woong Oh · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son was the only one who couldn't read on his kindergarten days. Luke and I'll have a chance to look back those good old days tonight.

[Larena · Rating 3 out of 5]

C: CHILDREN: No offensive language, sex or nudity but might contain occasional comedic Violence.

E:Easy: 3rd grade Vocabulary

Method: Physical Book

Location: Chautaugua-Cattaraugus Library System

[Breana]

it reminded me of when my step mom came into my life at first.