Max the Brave - GIVEAWAY

     I am participating in a blog tour for MAX THE BRAVE! Cause for celebration, a bonus book review and--giveaway! 

     
From Sourcebooks (the publisher):    

"Max is a fearless kitten. Max is a brave kitten. Max is a kitten who chases mice. There’s only one problem—Max doesn’t know what a mouse looks like! With a little bit of bad advice, Max finds himself facing a much bigger challenge. Maybe Max doesn’t have to be Max the Brave all the time…

Join this adventurous black cat as he very politely asks a variety of animals for help in finding a mouse. Young readers will delight in Max’s mistakes, while adults will love the subtle, tongue-in-cheek humor of this new children’s classic.

Ed Vere is an author, artist and illustrator with a long track record of success in the picture book category. Max the Brave was named one of The Sunday Times’s 100 Modern Children’s Classics. His book Bedtime for Monsters was shortlisted for the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Prize and Mr Big was chosen by Booktrust as the official Booktime book for 2009 (and was distributed to 750,000 British schoolchildren making it the largest single print run of a picture book). Vere was the World Book Day illustrator for 2009."

 What I like about this book: I'm generally a dog person but Max is a charmer. The author uses terse text, bright colors and negative space to keep the focus on character. With echoes of ARE YOU MY MOTHER in pacing and adorable use of mistaken identity, and a nod to THE GRUFFALO in the twist (two of my favorite classics, BTW) the story isn't about HOW to be brave, but rather what happens when a brave but naif character explores his world. I chucked as Max remains clueless to his 'kitten-power' while the animals he encounters react to a cat in their midst.

 Two side notes--I shared the book with visitors over the Labor Day holiday and my guest readers told me they weren't sure in the first spread that the character was a kitten. And none of us could figure out why Max's eye color changes from white to yellow. At first it seems to depict anger and then it feels random.

Resources: View the trailer!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuNbrpUVunE

View the activity kit here.

View the additional educator's guide here.

Contact the author or publisher on Twitter:   @ed_vere, @jabberwockykids

Enter a Rafflecopter drawing for a chance to win a copy of the book here!  

Everyone feels braver in a cape!

Note: I received a review copy from Sourcebooks in exchange for my participation in the blog hop. No other compensation was received.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Thanks for stopping by! Leave a comment to let me know what you think of my selections.