Picture Book Review: Maria The Matador

We received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review Date: February 4th, 2019

Written by: Anne Lambelet

Cover Copy

Maria loves tea parties and dancing and wearing her hair in pigtails, but more than anything in the world… Maria love CHUROS

She’ll do anything to get her hands on more of them — even enter a bullfight.  To win, she must outsmart the other matadors, who don’t think she’s big enough, fast enough, or strong enough.  Can Maria find her own path to victory and churros?

With determination and creativity, Maria discovers that you don’t have to fight to win, and you might even end up with more than you were hoping for.

Review

So first of all, we need to talk about the artwork Maria the Matador. The color palette is really rich and yet quite simple. There are shades of mauve and lavender, beige, and brown. Small accents of black. All of these blend very nicely together. And then there is this pop of robin’s egg blue, with varying shades both dark and light in that same color. And that’s it. But, wow, does it look beautiful. The artwork in this book easily makes the list of favorites in the picture books on our shelves.

Not only is it beautifully illustrated, this book is also really fun! The story is about a little girl named Maria, who enters a bullfight competition in order to win the prize: a lifetime supply of churros! It’s equal parts silliness and bravery and thinking outside the box. Because Maria is up against bigger, stronger, faster bullfighters. And if she wants to win all the churros, she’s going to have to be the smartest.

I think this story does a great job of showing kids how to think differently about a problem, teaching them about perseverance, and also that it’s okay if your goal to get you through something hard happens to be something silly, because if it keeps you motivated, then it’s a great goal.

This one makes Madeline giggle. She also gets very absorbed in the story. I think the idea of bullfighting kind of blows her mind. It’s really fun to watch her listen to this one as I read it. I know this is one we will reach for often at bedtime. It’s short, sweet, and oh, so fun!

Baby Ratings

• Tear & Fold Resistance: 7/10
• Font Readability: 10/10
• Kid Engagement: 10/10
• Mommy Engagement: 10/10