Max has caught my eye and my heart. He’s an inquisitive black cat with huge yellow eyes and a ton of courage. The text in the books are simple and concise and the illustrations are crisp, colorful and hilarious. The clarity and intensity of Max’s emotions are expressed through his eyes and his body language, he is drawn without a mouth.
Author illustrator Ed Vere has published numerous Children’s books since 2007, and the first Max book, Max the Brave was published in 2015. Two more Max titles were released this year, Max and Bird and Max at Night.
In Max the Brave, Max is trying to prove how fearless and strong he is by catching a mouse. The only problem is that he doesn’t know what a mouse it. He explores his world and wonders if a fish is a mouse, or birds, or an elephant. It will be a surprise and endearing to children that Max doesn’t know these basic things, and that he doesn’t even know that he should be afraid of a monster.
Max at Night begins with Max going about his regular bedtime routine. He gets all ready for bed but when he stops to say “goodnight” to the moon it is nowhere to be found. He begins a journey to find the moon and asks all of the things that he passes if they no where the moon is until he finally bellows, “MOOOOOOOOON Where are Yoooouu?”
I have not had the pleasure of reading Max and the Bird, but the Amazon summary for it is: “When Max meets Bird, Max thinks he’d like to be friends with Bird. He would also like to chase Bird and maybe eat him as a tasty snack. But that’s not what friendship is all about . . . Is it?”
The Max books make for great read-alouds as they include picture hints that can encourage children to guess what will happen next and big, bold, expressive words that can be read with gusto. Whether you are searching for a book to read in the classroom, to a small group or at bedtime, Max is sure to invoke smiles and creative thoughts in the mind of readers.
HipMamaJenn 