Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match/Marisol McDonald no combina

Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match is a cute little story with a valuable lesson for children. The main concept of this book is that it’s ok to be yourself, and to be different from everyone else. Marisol tries to fit in with the rest of her classmates but she realizes that she is really not happy

Show More

unless she is being who she really is. Some things I really like about the writing is that it has both Spanish and English, so the students can be exposed to different text. The book uses descriptive language, such as “orange like carrots” to describe, while also showing brilliant illustrations in the background. Another great thing about the writing is that it adds some vocabulary. In one part of the book someone tells Marisol that her outfit clashes, and then it explains that clashing means that her clothes do not match. Overall, I think this is a great book for students.

Show Less

4Q – the artwork is delightfully colorful and fun (especially nice that even the items in the illustrations are bilingual) but the story is a little forced.
4P – colorful and appealing and bilingual! Lots of reasons for readers to love this one.

A wonderful tale of a multicultural little girl who doesn’t match her families looks due to her parent’s different nationalities. So, instead of trying to fit into a perfect mold that doesn’t exist, she prides herself on all her differences and thrives to be herself. The illustrations are

Show More

very kid friendly; they help the storyline move from one activity to the next. The reader definitely feels the main character’s need to be different and her desire to be herself. Each page contains the English and Spanish translation of the story on the page to allow readers from any nationality to enjoy the tale. It leads itself to a great read aloud!

Show Less

Great story for reading to help children see and value the differences in culture and preferences.

Marisol likes to mismatch all her clothes and she eat tortillas with peanut butter and jelly instead of with bread. She likes to mismatch games too and her drawings sometimes don't make sense. She even writes her name in a mismatch way, she does one in cursive and the other in print. One day she

Show More

decides she will match since her friends tell her she is weird. But she doesn't feel happy matching. After school her teacher gives her a letter saying that she likes the way she is because she is unique and now Marisol McDonald wasn't so afraid to be herself....

Show Less

A little girl named Marisol McDonald is told she doesn't match, she is dark skinned with red hair, wears clothes that don't match either. One day she the kids tell her she couldn't match if she wanted to, so the next day she decides to have things that match. She is very unhappy not being her

Show More

normal self and finally her teacher sees she is upset and asks her what the matter is, she tells her its cause she matches. The teacher tells her she liked her just the way she was, so she decides to go back to the way she was.

Ages: 5-6

Source: Parkland Public Library

Show Less

Marisol McDonald is half Scottish, half Peruvian, and she likes not matching. The bilingual text of the book also reflects her bicultural experience - there are sometimes English words on the Spanish page and vice versa. It's an empowering story of a little girl who is proud to be herself.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The main message is to love yourself for who you are, and that being different is special and unique. One reason I loved this book is because it has every word in English and in Spanish. The first page in the book says "My Name is Marisol McDonald, and I don't

Show More

match" and right under that, it says "Me llamo es Marisol McDonald, y no combino". I think it is great that the book displays all the text in both languages, so the children can learn another language as they read, and if they get stuck then they can just refer back to the language they know, or to the pictures. The other reason I really enjoyed this book was because of the message. Children shouldn't feel the need to change themselves just to satisfy others. In the book, at the end of the year the teacher writes Marisol a note that says "I like you just the way you are". This book teaches them that being different is something to celebrate, not something to be ashamed of.

Show Less

This book shows you how much personality a little girl can have. Marisol never matches, her clothes and are accessories are always mismatching but when she tries to fit in she just feels more left out then before. Her teacher then tells her how unique she is and Marisol goes back to mismatching

Show More

everything making her feel more happy.

Show Less

Marisol is different, everyone tells her. Marisol likes to wear polka dotted shirts and striped pants. Marisol has brown skin and red hair and freckles. Marisol likes to eat peanut butter and jelly on burritos. Marisol speaks Spanish and English. Marisol no combina; Marisol doesn’t match.

I loved

Show More

reading this book in Spanish to my bilingual children at school and seeing how many of them identify with Marisol. I identified with Marisol, too, growing up with a Catholic mom from a city in the North and a Baptist dad from the country in the South, always feeling like I don’t match, but never really caring. I admired Marisol’s courage in creating fun new ideas from tired old ones.

“My teacher, Ms. Apple, doesn’t like the way I sign my name. ‘Marisol McDonald,’ she says, ‘this doesn’t match! At school we learn to print and use cursive, but not at the same time.’

But I like the way Marisol McDonald looks.”

Show Less

The author creates a great resource for multiculturalism. She uses vivid and vibrant shades of color for her illustrations. I would love to use this book and read it to them in in Spanish to my bilingual children at school in order to see how many of them identify with Marisol. I admired Marisol's

Show More

courage in creating fun new ideas from tired old ones. This is important to teach children when covering multicultural aspects in the classroom. The author uses her illustrations to help children visualize the overall concepts. This is a great book to use for when celebrating cultures and different languages.

Show Less

I really enjoyed this book and it’s probably one of my new favorites. As soon as I saw that it was in both Spanish and English, I was intrigued because it not only can be taught to one set of students, it could address a whole different section of my class. This story was written in first person,

Show More

which I believe was beneficial to the main idea about the book. She was the one telling to story, and in the end she was the one to speak and stand up for herself. Another thing that was well done in this book was the illustrations. They were done in a mixed media format, which went with the title of nothing matching. Everything in this book was its own kind of wonderful. Every aspect of Marisol was not matching, and it went right down to her roots of her mother and father. I thought that this tied in with one of the main themes as well and the illustrations brought it home so the readers could better understand it. Towards the end of the book, a character named Ollie tells Marisol that she couldn’t match even if she wanted to, this was when Marisol sought out to prove him wrong. She went the next day at school and home completely matching and she realized what a boring life that was for her. Her art teacher asked her what was wrong, and she confessed to trying to be a matching person. At the end of the book her art teacher handed her a note saying that she was perfect the way she was and she shouldn’t ever change. The teacher even signed her name the way Marisol signs hers, first name in cursive and last in print. This all goes with the theme of the book of knowing that you are different, but embracing who you are and loving every minute of it.

Show Less

This story is about a little girl, Marisol, embracing her individuality, even though it is hard for her at times. This book tells children the message of being yourself even when doing so makes you stand out and feel different from others. Embracing who you are is an essential part of growing up

Show More

and being proud of what makes you unique. I enjoyed this book for two main reasons. First, I feel that the plot successfully delivered the underlying message by having Marisol try and give into her peers and be "normal" like them, but then realizing how much better she likes being herself, even if it is different. After deciding "I, Marisol McDonald, will match", she tries to act like her peers for a day, but finds that she does not like being normal because it is "boring". I think that journey within the plot is what drove home the message to the reader. Secondly, I enjoyed this book because of its utilization of language by incorporating Marisol's family's home language of Spanish into the story and having the Spanish version of the text next to the English. This feature alone showed readers to embrace differences by having different languages presented in the book, instead of just English like they are normally used to seeing. Language was also utilized to help show Marisol's confidence in who she is through her own young narration and voice showing her stand up for herself to her peers and in declarations throughout the story, such as when she says, "I don't match because I don't want to."

Show Less

First I like this book because of the diversity and multiculturalism it includes. Throughout the book there was translations in Spanish on the opposite pages. This book allows English-speaking students to learn some Spanish, as well as helps ELL’s to learn English.

The second reason I like the

Show More

book was because the illustrations included people of different races, such as African American and Asian. The author even made the main character, Marisol be a mix of Peruvian American of European, Jewish, and American heritage.

The third reason I enjoy the book is because it pushes readers to open their eyes to other languages used throughout the world, and not just English. The book also allows students to make meaning of other people’s culture.

This is a wonderful book because it teaches children to be themselves and not conform. In my opinion one should not be ashamed to be different, and everyone is a complex mismatch of things. Being different makes you unique. This book reinforces to children that they should embrace their differences and be who they are.

Show Less

Marisol McDonald doesn’t match is an adorable coming of age story about a girl who is full of non matching traits and is know for this but one day decides to be like everyone else and match. This story offers an important message that you should be yourself and that is it ok to be different. I

Show More

loved this book for two main reasons, the writing and the illustrations.
There are so many great things about this book when it comes to the writing of the book. First off I love how it was written in two different languages, Spanish and English. I feel that this really helps bilingual readers and conveys the message of the story even more. It also offers an opportunity for readers to be exposed to a different type of text. I also love the descriptive language throughout the story. For example when describing Marisol’s hair the author describes it as “flaming red hair”. I liked this because it was a way for the author to understand the story better and the reader can really imagine “flaming red hair”. The third and final thing I loved about the writing in the book is the point of view. I loved that it was from Marisol’s point of view. I liked this because I feel it really helped to feel exactly what the character felt and understand her actions. For example when Marisol is discussing how her brother says she doesn’t match but she doesn’t care and thinks stripes and polka dots go great together. This helped the reader to understand how she felt about this, something we would have missed if written in a different point of view. This in my opinion enhanced the story and helped to convey the overall message of the story.
I love the illustrations in this book. The illustration really helped to enhance the story while being very vivid and descriptive. For example when showing the color of Marisol’s hair, the illustrator conveyed to the reader just how red it was by the use of the vivid and bright colors contrasted to the plain backgrounds. I like this because it helped the reader to understand the story that much more. Overall I feel this is a great book and one I would definitely read again.

Show Less

In my opinion this is an amazing book. This book pushes readers to stand up for themselves and embrace their differences. One feature of the book that I really liked was the point of view. Marisol McDonald tells her story in first person. This portrays her as a strong girl who stands up for herself

Show More

and is able to voice her own opinions. “My name is Marisol McDonald and I don’t match”. Another reason I liked this book was the characters. Marisol is from a multicultural family, her mother is Hispanic and her father is Caucasian. These characters are very believable and many students are able to relate to this family lifestyle. Much like her blended family, Marisol also likes to blend activities, such as soccer playing pirates, rather than two separate games of pirates and soccer. Finally, my favorite feature of this book was the writing. On each page the text was written in English, and then in Spanish right below. This feature makes the book itself multicultural along with the story itself. The main message of this story is that it is good to be unique and embrace your cultural differences.

Show Less

I liked this book because it gave a abstract and fun way to talk about an important topic. This book talks about a girl, Marisol who is biracial. The author compares "not matching" to having multiple races and cultures in a fun and different way. I think comparing the two also makes it easier for

Show More

children to understand the topic. I think the language of this book is written well and easy to read and follow along. I also think the character is believable and easy to connect with. The book is written in first person by the main character, Marisol. I like this because she is a very positive and independent young girl and I believe a good role model. She encourages the importance that it is good to be yourself. The illustrations are really positive and enthusiastic. "Marisol your skin in brown like mine, but your hair is the color of carrots. You don't match!" Marisol responds, "Actually my hair is the color of fire." This quote shows an example of how Marisol doesn't "match" but she accepts the way she looks anyway.

Show Less

Marisol McDonald is a multi-racial girl who has dark skin with red hair, enjoys eating peanut butter and jelly burritos for lunch and mismatches all of her clothes; the best part of all, though, is Marisol likes herself just the way she is. She embraces her uniqueness as well as her culture, being

Show More

that she has a white father and a Brazilian mother. Furthermore, Monica Brown, the author of the book does an amazing job of incorporating bilingualism into the story. For example, Brown translates the title into Spanish as well (Marisol McDonald no combina) which is very appealing to children of a Spanish descent. Other than the book being multi-cultural as well as bilingual, I also enjoyed the illustrations that were used throughout the story. Just as Marisol was mismatched, the illustrations are a mix of media such as newspapers, magazines and so on to go along with the theme of the story and creates a visual for the readers. I also enjoyed the descriptive language which allows students to get a better, in depth picture of the situation at hand. Marisol explains that she has dark skin and "hair as red as carrots" which provides a very descriptive, detailed image for children. Lastly, I felt the subliminal message was delivered extremely well to the readers which is to embrace your uniqueness and individuality. After Marisol is teased by her classmates due to her mismatched, unique ways, she receives a note from her teacher stating, "I like you just the way you are." Marisol then realizes she is much happier being the way she is, which again is the big idea of the story; one should be proud of who they are and accept their unique ways, just as Marisol did.

Show Less

This book has a number of aspects which I appreciate. First off, the author chose to make this book bilingual where it included the words both in English and Spanish. On each new set of pages the left would have the sentence written in English and the right would have that same sentence written in

Show More

Spanish. For example the title, “Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match” and “Marisol McDonald no combina.” The book is not only bilingual, but also touches on multiracial culture since Marisol has a white father and a Brazilian mother. This aspect will help to appeal to multiracial children who do not normally see themselves in stories. I also enjoyed how the illustrator chose to create the books images out of mixed media. She uses newspaper, magazines and fabric to create a visual for Brown’s readers. This is an excellent representation of the book’s main message because she creates each image with things that do not match, just like Marisol. Overall, the author expresses how important it is to accept yourself and your differences just like Marisol did with how much she does not match.

Show Less

I enjoyed reading, "Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match / Marisol McDonald no combina for three reasons. This story book is about a little girl named Marisol who is consistently told that she "doesn't match." Marisol does not like to have her clothes match and she likes to play games and do things that

Show More

don't seem like the belong together. What I liked most about this book was the fact that it was written bilingually. On one page the text about Marisol's adventures were written in English and the text was mirrored in Spanish on the other side. I found that this integration of both languages brought in the culture of Marisol and her family very nicely while giving the readers of the book the ability to familiarize themselves in a potentially new language. I also appreciated the metaphors the author used as imagery throughout the book. The author, Monica Brown, describes Marisol's hair as she writes, "color of carrots" and "color of fire." The third aspect of this book that I enjoyed was the message that it sent out to its readers. At the end of the boo Marisol embraces her individuality and is proud of who she is no matter how unconventional she may seem to others. This teaches students that above all else, what is most important is being yourself.

Show Less

This is another picture book I read to my third grade practicum class, and the kids absolutely loved it. They appreciated that the book is bilingual, and also that Marisol McDonald is Hispanic because most of them were as well. I think this book is good for teaching diversity as it shows throughout

Show More

that it's okay that Marisol isn't like everyone else. She's different, and that's awesome. Just because someone's different doesn't mean it's right to disrespect or bully them. This is another concept I feel is really important for kids to learn. 3-4 grade.

Show Less

I enjoyed this book and thought it was interesting how the author told the story in both english and spanish so the reader can choose to read the story in english or spanish. I connected with the story and felt that Marisol is a good role model for children that its okay to be different and to be

Show More

your own person.

Show Less

Marison McDonad is a little girl who doesn't like to match. When her cousins and kids at school question why she doesn't match in clothes, personality and in her dark skin with bright red hair. Marisol decides to give matching a try but it's boring and as she tries to be the same she loses a little

Show More

of her happy and vibrant personality. This is a story that explores what it means to be different.

This book is rich with diversity in text and illustration. The book is bilingual and discusses hard topics such as being different, looking different, feeling different and what it means to celebrate who we are despite our differences.

Show Less

Lovely, simple story about Marisol with red hair and brown skin. Nothing she does "matches" and she begins to feel different instead of special. I would use this to teach about individuality and feeling good about one's differences.