Walking with Maga
An excerpt:
When Maga and I go walking, we don’t walk very fast.
There is too much to see.
A chipmunk, climbing a sycamore branch.
Birds perched high on a wire.
A yellow house.
Forget-me-nots.
A snail. A hose. One red rose.
Praise for Walking with Maga:
“A little girl and her beloved grandmother share a love of walking, nature, and one another in this poignant picture book. The child narrates the story, describing how she and her Maga walk slowly, take rests, talk and joke often, and visit people they know along the way. They stop frequently, looking at different shapes in the clouds, or gathering lemons from the tree of a friendly neighbor to save for lemonade. The text is warm and sweet, allowing the heartfelt emotions of the duo to shine through.
Maga lets a caterpillar crawl down her arm. It’s wrinkled and funny and slow. 'Like me.' Maga laughs.
"Interacting wonderfully with the text, the illustrations glow with a combination of sunlight, warmth, and soft colors. This is a lovely read aloud, and a useful story when highlighting either descriptive writing or memoirs for the elementary or middle school set.”
“Ages 4-8. In a quiet book that is something of a mood piece, a girl of about six spends time walking with her grandmother. They talk as they walk, look at birds, and visit friends like Mr. Anton, who collects shells and starfish. They find things, too--a stone, a bottle cap, acorns. When the girls find a dandelion in the grass, they decide to make a wish. 'I wish I could always go walking with you,' the girl says, and Maga whispers, 'Me, too.' The charming text captures the love between grandmother and granddaughter and the art is well executed and touched with whimsy...The bond between the two characters transcends time and age.”
“In this reassuring multi-generational tale, Maureen Boyd Biro poignantly portrays the pleasures of a rambling walk shared by a grandmother and granddaughter. 'Maga’s' pace is pleasingly slow, slow enough for dandelion-blowing, ice-cream cones, squirrel spotting, visiting neighbors, and even jokes. The warm illustrations and charming text evoke the joy of love and nature. A book to be savored and then treasured.”