Maxine: 1

by Bob Graham

A companion title to Bob Graham’s celebrated picture book Max , whose superhero family has just got bigger!

Max has a new baby sister – Maxine! Max is there for her first words, her first steps and … her first flight! But as Maxine grows up and starts school, she doesn’t feel like she quite fits in. In fact, she’s not sure if she feels comfortable in her superhero guise at all. Can Maxine convince her family that not all superheroes wear capes? With a strong, incredibly smart girl at its centre, this is a book to inspire any child to dream big and be exactly who, and how, they want to be.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy, Family

40 pages, Hardcover

Published September 16, 2021

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

An Australian children's author and illustrator. His books include Max, which won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Gold Award, Jethro Byrd, Fairy Child, which won the Kate Greenaway Medal, and "Let's Get A Pup!" Said Kate which won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award

Reviews

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Vicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main idea behind this book is a little girl with her own talents and interests that diverge from her family's traditions. Born into a superhero family, Maxine doesn’t like wearing the costume and cape, she wants to wear jeans and a t-shirt. Her family doesn’t understand, no one in their family has ever worn jeans, they are born with their masks on. In the end she finds the courage, and support from her loving family, to be who she wants to be, herself! The pictures were a great accompaniment to the story. I especially liked the birds drawn at the beginning and the end, when Maxine is still able to fly (without her cape) with the birds, as if she is free. There’s also a generosity shown throughout the book that was appealing.
My kids didn’t like that the superfamily all looked like they were wearing diapers. There are a few parts where the wording is a bit confusing.

[Jared White · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book about how sometimes a family's legacy is not your own legacy. I think this could apply/be used to discuss when a family of gymnasts or musicians has a child with no interest in that particular thing or a family that are die-hard sports fans of a particular sport and team has a child with no interest in that team or sport. Just because that child does not embrace the family legacy in the strictest sense does not mean they cannot embrace and channel elements of it in their own way.

[Terry Stark · Rating 1 out of 5]

At its core it has a good concept; be yourself.
The execution is awful, though. The wording is confusing and meandering. There are scenes that exist for no reason other than to confuse the readers as far as I can tell.
The children are named Max and Maxine, which is confusing enough; but then the author randomly refers to one of them as "Maxi" several times.
The whole book feels like it is building to something, and then just ends.
If I could get my money back for a book I would.

[Dawn Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maxine comes from a family of flying superheroes, including her older brother, Max. But, once Maxine starts school she wonders if she could still be a superhero without the cape & mask? Maxine is a bright, colorful picture book that reassures young readers that being true to yourself doesn't mean you won't be a superhero!!

[Sirah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maxine was born to a family of superheroes, but she won't let that stop her from being her truest self.

I appreciate the message of this book, but it has an odd way of going about it. It doesn't start at a good moment, and it ends without quite resolving some of my questions. It's a fun idea though.

[Kelsie Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this was a really cute book. I do think that the message is kind of confusing, On one hand it's saying that you shouldn't be different from other kids. However, I do think that you can also argue that it's saying it is ok to be different since she is different from her family. Either way I did enjoy the book but I didn't 100% love the message.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The big brother gets to be in the delivery room? Is that a thing now?

I love that her family gives her permission to be unsure what she wants to do/be when she grows up - it's not that a passion for art or whatever drives her, as in other stories, it's just that she happens to know that she doesn't want to be a superhero.

Another winner by Graham.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max's little sister Maxine arrives and readers see her super powers from the start. They also see her figure out who she wants to be - not who she is expected to be. She makes different choices from her family throughout the story and makes the final empowering one at the end.

[Cleyton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute story. I like that it teaches young kids to be comfortable being themselves and not put themselves in a box and they can be different than their families. Illustrations are very fun and I like how they feel like they are from a child perspective.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book and characters, but the storyline is just a littler all over the place. Begins with welcoming a new baby into the family to that baby growing up and trying to figure out who they are. Lot of jumping stages and plots.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max's baby sister is not so keen on following the family superhero tradtion.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't care for the theme of this book, which seemed to me to be "cave into peer pressure at school and forget your family's values."

[Zazie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The narrator of the video I watched did not do a good job reading this story but I enjoyed what I. got from it anyway.