Maya's Big Scene

by Isabelle Arsenault

Overview

Maya's imagination sets the stage for her friends to act out her feminist play. Can she make room in her queendom for the will of the people? A funny picture book about leadership and fair play for fans of King Baby and Olivia.

Maya is a bossy, burgeoning playwright and loves to have the kids in her Mile End neighborhood bring her scenes to life. Her latest work, about a feminist revolution, is almost ready for public performance. But as her actors begin to express their costume preferences, Maya quickly learns that their visions may not match hers . . . and as both Director and Queen, Maya demands obedience and loyalty in her queendom of equality! But she soon realizes -- with the help of her friends and subjects -- that absolute bossiness corrupts absolutely!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735267619
Publisher:	Tundra
Publication date:	02/02/2021
Series:	A Mile End Kids Story , #3
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
Lexile:	GN470L (what's this?)
File size:	28 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

ISABELLE ARSENAULT is a Montreal illustrator whose passion for illustrated books has earned her an impressive number of awards and distinctions, including three Governor General's Literary Awards for Children's Literature and a Joe Shuster Award for Outsanding Artist. She received the Bologna Ragazzi Award in 2017 and was Canada's illustrator nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2018 and 2020. Three of her picture books have been named New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Year. She received a bachelor's degree in graphic design from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Editorial Reviews

One of CCBC’s Best Books for Kids and Teens, Fall 2021
A 2022 Texas Library Association Little Maverick Graphic Novel Pick

“Simultaneously supports social-emotional growth and celebrates collaborative creativity.” —Kirkus Reviews

"Children need to learn how to get along with one another; the jubilantly performative setting of this inventive book is a perfect expression of that truth.” —Imaginary Elevators

“Arsenault’s playful pencil, watercolour and ink illustrations are a great match for the graphic novel style she uses to tell her stories.” —Globe and Mail

“Montreal’s Arsenault puts her distinctive style to work, using pencils, watercolour and ink to fill various panels and full pages with the story of a little girl who puts on a play with her friends, but who takes her directorial and starring role a little too seriously, threatening to derail the entire production.” —Montreal Gazette

From the Publisher

2020-12-15
Will a drama queen’s artistic ambition overshadow her ideals?

The play performed by the kids in Maya’s neighborhood is going to be perfect. Maya is absolutely certain of this because she’s directing every aspect to realize her grand vision of a drama celebrating freedom, equality, and respect. When the other kids won’t do exactly what the imperious Maya says, however, she at last realizes that a better world starts with her actions as well as her words. With each friend contributing equal amounts of creativity, confetti rains down on the triumphant, jubilant troupe. As with the first two Mile End Kids Stories—Colette’s Lost Pet (2017) and Albert’s Quiet Quest (2019)—graphic-novel and picture-book elements blend, with speech bubbles capturing the entirety of the dialogue-driven text. As the kids explore and define their shared goals of freedom, equality, and respect, Arsenault brings readers along on her social-emotional learning journey through expertly paced visual and textual storytelling. The whimsical illustrations employ a combination of charcoal lines and textured smudges accented in orange and fuchsia. These two vibrant colors confer importance and highlight emotion, adding a layer of complexity to the expressive characters. Maya is depicted with black hair and dark skin; of the six remaining children, four present White and two as kids of color. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-14-inch double-page spreads viewed at 83.7% of actual size.)

Simultaneously supports social-emotional growth and celebrates collaborative creativity. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews