This is Max. Doesn’t Max look sweet. Max looks so sweet that sometimes people like to dress him up in ribbons. Max does not like being dressed up in ribbons. Because Max is a fearless kitten. Max is an intrepid kitten. Max is a brave kitten. Max is a Kitten who chases MICE
Story
Max is a kitten who desperately wants to chase a mouse, the problem is he doesn’t know what a mouse looks like. He sets out asking various different animals if they are mouse.
The format is a bit repetitive and I was wondering where the story was heading, but when Max does encounter mouse, he doesn’t realise it. Mouse then sends Max on to monster!
I thought the twist was quite clever and I was curious as to how Max’s encounter with monster would be resolved. It wasn’t particularly exciting but Max figures out in the end that he can chace monster’s instead of mice, (as in – what he thinks is a monster which is really a mouse.)
Characters
Max is a likeable character, he’s a brave fellow that kids would root for.
Art
There’s not a lot to the drawings themselves. They are quite rough and sketchy but still expressive and lively. The artist uses bold colours for the background and makes great use of the ‘blank’ space, making best use of the layout of text and images.
Moral
There’s no obvious moral or message expressed in the story. Having said that; Max is a brave and curious character. He gets tricked by the mouse but learns from his mistake and gets the better of mouse in the end.
Value for money
Hardcover RRP: £11.99
Paperback RRP: £6.99
Kindle Version: £3.99
If you’re into e-reading devices I can imagine the kindle version would really bring the vibrant colours in the pictures to life, and kids would enjoy flipping the ‘pages.’
Obviously the price is cheaper on Amazon for the physical copies but in terms of RRP I wouldn’t pay £12. A hardback is more durable sure, but it’s only useful if your child is going to read it multiple times. Even if they read it 12 times, that’s £1 a time, still pretty expensive. It would depend on how much your kid enjoys it.
Age appropriateness
It depends on the individual child but in general I think this book would be enjoyed most by younger children, 2 to 5 years especially.
My vote.
Max the Brave is well reviewed on Amazon by parents (four and a half stars.) But I have super high standards in fiction across the ages. I would give it 3 stars. I certainly wouldn’t pay £11.99, that’s for sure, but I would buy it on Kindle.
Anything else?
There’s another Max book coming out in September 2015 which, if I can borrow from the library, I’ll get my mits on it for a review.
How I rate books:
Mostly I look for:
• Great images
• Exciting/interesting story
• Message or meaning
• Five stars: Only my very favourite books get a 5 star rating
• Four stars: Books that I enjoy
• Three stars: Books that are okay
• Two stars: Books that are pretty rubbish
• One star: Books that make me mad