GO! GO! MARIA!
What It’s Like to Be 1
(GROWING UP STORIES series)
Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Children, August 2003
Illustrated by Michael Emberley
I knew from the get-go that the story of Maria would be about how she learned to talk and walk. That’s why the opening line in this story is, “Maria was one. When Maria wasn’t trying to walk, she was trying to talk. Sometimes she tried to walk and talk at the same time.” Older children are often surprised to hear that like Maria, when they were one and tried to do something new, they would practice something over and over again, until they finally learned to do it. Older children also delight in the fact that one-year-olds take a few steps and then fall down on their butts, laugh or cry, and get up again and try to walk again. They often follow a one-year-old around as they toddle around the room, looking like ducks imprinting. Hence, Michael Emberley’s marvelous and humorous drawing of a one-year-old toddling and being followed by a duck waddling with the following words, “Toddle toddle, waddle, waddle.” is accompanied by the art.
“Harris and Emberley follow Hello Benny! What It’s Like to Be a Baby with this lively look at one-year-old behavior and development. Toddler Maria goes about her business while supplemental boxed information, appearing in tandem with the story, demonstrates how her actions are typical for her age group. The lighthearted cartoons document what exasperating and exhausting but lovable creatures one-year-olds can be.”
-The Horn Book Guide, July-December 2003
“The second in the Growing Up Stories series, which began with Hello, Benny! is as delightful as its predecessor. This time, one-year-old Maria is the star attraction, learning to walk and run, exploring the wider world outside her home, and driving her older brother, Percy, crazy. The dynamic combination of Harris’ text and Emberley’s sweepingly energetic cartoon-style art depicts Maria always on the move as it conducts parents and their kids through the developmental landmarks of a child Maria’s age. On each double-page spread is a brief storylike glimpse of Maria in action, which can easily be read aloud to a wiggly toddler. In addition, there are several pictures (the one of Maria wearing white jockey shorts as a hat is priceless) that cheerfully capture and extend Maria’s “adventures in living.” For grown-ups, Harris also provides a boxed inset, clearly explaining how Maria’s behavior relates to child development. The large format makes the book ideal for sharing, so the learning process can be a real family affair. It’s fun and fact in a lively package.”
-Stephanie Zvirin, Booklist, September 15, 200
3″Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley, the team who created Hello Benny! What It’s Like To Be A Baby, have created a second picture book for their series Growing Up Stories, consisting of facts and stories about the first five years of life. Go! Go! Maria! Tells the story of Maria and looks at the events of her second year of life, from walking on her own for the very first time to singing her own name on her second birthday. Go! Go! Maria! Is an enchanting look at how one-year-olds grow up.”
-Linda F. Cauthen, Estylo magazine Book Nook (El Rincon de los Libros), November 2003
“Taking the natural next step in their Growing Up Stories series, Harris and Emberley follow Hello Benny!: What It’s Like to Be a Baby with this lively look at one-year-old behavior and development. In the series’ format, rambunctious toddler Maria goes about her business while supplemental boxed information, appearing in tandem with the story, demonstrates how her actions are typical for her age group. For example, when Maria throws her brother’s clothes around and puts a pair of underpants on her head, Harris assures disgruntled older siblings everywhere that one-year-olds “think everything belongs to everybody. They are not being bad when they get into things. It’s just one way they find out about things.” When Maria strings Spanish and English words together, readers discover that “one-year-olds who grow up in families who speak more than one language often learn to speak two languages at the same time.” These straightforward explanations are made even more accessible by Emberley’s lighthearted cartoons, which document what exasperating and exhausting but lovable creatures one-year-olds can be. We leave Maria on her second birthday with a sense of how much she’s grown and changed since the book began, and with a hint about a topic to be covered in the next volume — toilet training. Children who’ve passed that milestone — or who worry that their stinky little brother or sister never will — should stay tuned.”
-The Horn Book Magazine, November / December 2003
“As with their companion volume in the “Growing Up Stories” series, Hello Benny! (Candlewick Press, 2002), Robie Harris and Michael Emberley have teamed to create an inviting and informative book for young children about young children. In Go! Go! Maria! they turn their attention to one-year-olds. The narrative story follows Maria, a young Latina child who is just learning to walk and talk. Maria delights in mastering new skills, from turning on the TV to walking to learning words (in both English and Spanish). Over the course of the year, her abilities expand to include climbing the stairs and saying her name, as well as many other new skills. As Maria engages in typical one-year-old behavior, informational boxes feature additional text that can be used to explain why one-year-olds behave that way. The book will provide children with younger siblings a wonderful way to learn about their youngest family members. But all children will delight in the opportunity to find out more about themselves when they were Maria’s age.”
-CCBC Choices 2003
“Growing Up Stories: Go! Go! Maria! What It’s Like to Be 1 by Robie H. Harris, illus. by Michael Emberley, tells the story of one-year-old Maria, as she learns to walk and to say words like “Hola!” “Papí!,” “No!” and “Mine!” As with their Hello Benny! What It’s Like to Be a Baby, Harris and Emberley sprinkle facts about toddlers throughout the story, with tidbits about how they learn and how they play, in sidebars with spot illustrations.”
-Publishers Weekly, September 1, 2003
