Official Review: Maxi’s Travels by Mary Smith

[Annelore Trujillo]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Maxi’s Travels" by Mary Smith.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Maxi’s Travels by Mary Smith is a children’s picture book about a boy named Maxi and his coming-of-age adventure. Maxi feels an urge to go on a quest. He doesn’t know what it is that is pulling him, but he can’t ignore the feeling. He wants more from his life than what he can get in his village. After he celebrates his birthday with his father, he embarks on his quest. He travels through a magical forest, meets the queen of giants, and much more. Will he discover what is causing his urge? Will he make something more out of his life? You’ll have to read this book to find out.

The adventure and imagination in this book are great for children! There are so many fun creatures and characters. Children will have so much fun reading about Maxi’s adventure. The book also has a couple of excellent messages. The first is to spread the wealth and help your neighbors. Maxi wants to provide for his father, which is part of his reasoning for setting out on his adventure. As Maxi was growing up, his neighbors helped them out after his mom died. This is great model behavior for children. The other is to follow your heart. Maxi knew something was calling him, and he set out to find it.

Unfortunately, there are several negative aspects in this book that can’t be overlooked. The first is that the pictures are inconsistent. The images are essential in a children’s book. This book has different types of images on each page. Some look more realistic than others, and the media varies. I’m not a fan of the variation. There are also two pictures of fairies that are subtly sexualized. This makes me uncomfortable since the book is a children’s book.

Another negative aspect is that the book is repetitive. The same thing is stated several times. It takes away from the flow of the book. The book also isn’t professionally edited. There are several errors throughout the book. I’m a stickler for grammar in children’s books. I might sound like a broken record, but children are impressionable. It is important that the books they read have proper grammar so they can learn.

I give this book 2 out of 4 stars. I would give it 2.5 if I could. I liked the magic of the story and the lessons in the book. However, I took off one star for the editing and one for the pictures. These are two important aspects of any children’s book. As written, I would recommend this book for parents with young children who enjoy magical adventures. It would be a good book to read out loud to them. I would not recommend this as a book for children to read on their own due to the errors. I also would not recommend this book for readers who do not enjoy adventure or magic.

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Maxi’s Travels
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[Lilyflower-x2]

You are right to give it two stars. I believe that children books should be fun but also educative. This means that grammar should be without question. It is also sad that such a book would expose kids to pictures of a sexual nature. If such issues would be edited, I would happily avail the book to my kids.
Thank you for your review.

[Abbigael4482]

I one hundred percent agree with you. I see that all the time in my sisters picture books. I also, agree with you in the asspect that children are like sponges, they take in everything including spelling as well as grammer.

[HannahsReads]

Thanks for your honest review. Hopefully the author will edit to make this book more appropriate for children.