Millions of Maxes

The direct prose style of Wolitzer (To Night Owl from Dogfish) makes a seamless transition to the picture book in this volume. No one has told Max, a boy with brown skin, that names go in and out of fashion--his parents call him "the one and only Max," so why shouldn't that be so? His sense of uniqueness evaporates one day at the playground, though, when his name is called out and two other Maxes--a Black child on skates and a white child on a scooter--also come running. "I am NOT the one and only Max," he mourns internally. "And I never, ever was." But playing with the other Maxes proves so much fun--the three bond over a playground-wide search for a lost object and even meet a fourth Max--that the protagonist ends the day embracing his membership in a club in which "we all have the same name, but we're completely different." The cheery aesthetic of Player (Paletero Man)--colors that pop, crisply rendered characters who wear their hearts on their sleeves as they run hither and yon--matches Wolitzer's warm, knowing voice page for page, and Player's varied digital compositions capture the visceral excitement of an action-packed day outside. Ages 3-5. (Oct.)

PreS-Gr 1--The one and only Max is used to being the one and only. His name is all over his room; he has "Max" cup and a "Max" night light. On a trip to the playground, however, he meets two other kids named Max. This surprises him; if there are two more Maxes, there might be millions of them. When one of the other Maxes loses a pink pine cone, the three of them work together to find it. Max doesn't mind that he is no longer the one and only; they have the same name, but are still each unique. This picture book is an excellent portrayal of a kid with a certain world view having it very much shaken. It models a helpful reaction for processing new information, reminding readers that they can believe one thing one day and learn something that alters that the next. VERDICT With the added draw of cartoon-like art, this is a one-of-a-kind and entertaining picture book for all kinds of readers.--Myiesha Speight, formerly at Towson Univ., Baltimore