Mary McLean and the St. Patrick's Day Parade

by Steven Kroll, Michael Dooling (Illustrator)

In order to march with Mr. Finnigan in the St. Patrick's Day Parade, Mary must find a perfect shamrock in Manhattan in the middle of winter.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Holiday, Historical Fiction, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1991

About the author

Stephen Kroll spoke at schools and conferences all over the world. He was married to the journalist, Kathleen Beckett, and they lived in New York City and an old carriage house in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. When he was not writing or traveling, he played a lot of tennis and walked around looking at everything.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forced to leave their home in Donegal when the potato blight wipes out their crop year after year, the McLean family make the long and arduous journey to America in this picture-book celebration of St. Patrick's Day, eventually settling in a small basement apartment in lower Manhattan. As Mr. McLean finds work on the docks and Mrs. McLean goes out as a maid to a wealthy family on Fifth Avenue, the children of the family begin to attend school, and to become acquainted with their neighbors, who are mostly Irish immigrants like themselves. Learning of the marvelous St. Patrick's Day parade that is held every March 17th, young Mary decides that she would like to participate, asking local grocer Mr. Finnegan if she can ride in his cart with him. His response - that she must give him a shamrock if she wants to ride in his cart - sends her on a months-long quest to find a three-leafed clover somewhere in snowy New York. Will the leprechaun she meets in City Hall Park be able to help her? Or will someone else, closer to home, step in...?

Although I'm somewhat dubious when it comes to a lot of the leprechaun and shamrock-centric fare that pops up at this time of year - genuine folkloric collections such as Bairbre McCarthy's The Keeper of the Crock of Gold: Irish Leprechaun Tales being an exception, of course - I picked Steven Kroll's picture-book up from my library's St. Patrick's Day display this past weekend anyway, mostly because I wanted to see what he would do with the immigrant-family story. I enjoyed Mary McLean and the St. Patrick's Day Parade for the most part, but (predictably) I could have lived without the entire subplot involving the leprechaun. Since the heartwarming conclusion of the tale, in which Mary's father finds her a shamrock, would have worked just as well if Mary had simply scoured the streets and parks of New York for the shamrock, without ever encountering the leprechaun, the inclusion of more fantastic elements felt like a distraction from the real story about the McLean family, and how they began to settle in to their new home. Others will perhaps feel differently, but all in all I think Janet Nolan's excellent picture-book, The St. Patrick's Day Shillelagh , is a better exploration of the Irish-American experience at this time of year.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertaining story that helps to teach children some of the history of the massive numbers of Irish immigrants that came to America in the mid-1800s. The narrative is interesting and informative and the illustrations are wonderful. I picked this book up at the library in honor of St. Patrick's Day and we really enjoyed reading it together.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The basic idea is good, but it didn't pull together all that well.

The tale jumped in a couple of places; I even turned back to see if I'd skipped a page. And why didn't Mary look for something to wear that would have meshed more appropriately with Mr. Finnegan and his wagon? A few more details about Mary's life would have added depth to the story.

The art missed some key points -- no views of the parade, no views of the street where they lived, no views of the room where the family lived. Too many close-ups. Mary looks pretty well-fed for someone who survived on a minimal diet, and her face is awkward in a couple of places. The leprechaun is well-drawn.

[Holly Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Mary McLean follows the character on her and her families' journey from Ireland to New York City and her quest to find a perfect shamrock so she may be able to ride in the city's St. Patrick's Day parade. Mary soon learns that a local worker named Mr. Finnegan rides in the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City on a cart with two white horses and wants to be able to join him on the parade route. However, while Mr. Finnegan does not dismiss Mary's request, he does ask of the character to find, "a perfect shamrock," as a ticket to riding alongside him in the parade. Mary questions if she'll be able to find such a item in the cold-icy conditions outside before the event next year, but that does not stop Mary McClean from dedicating a large portion of time to finding the green ticket to her dreams. Mary sets out to search for a shamrock and soon finds a leprechaun that just so happens to hold a "perfect shamrock in his possession," which he states he might share with Mary, only after his travels to California. Mary waits and soon encounters the creature again, but forgetting her father's advice, takes her eyes off the leprechaun and loses the shamrock again. However, Mary father swoops in at the end and somehow finds the perfect shamrock and Mary McLean is able to ride the St. Patrick Day parade.
The tale, while fictional, highlights the journey numerous Irish immigrants made during the potato famine in the 1800's and as at the author states, "is based on life lived in New York in the 1850's, with exception of the leprechaun." The illustrations of the story dual as both illustrative and strikingly realistic as the attention to detail within the character's faces sometimes prompt a second look to ensure that they are indeed paintings. The story overall is light-hearted with moments of heartache for dear ole' determined Mary as she sets to find the perfect shamrock and seemingly runs out of time; however, the illustrations sometimes appear to depict a detail rather than the main focus of the message within each page. Nonetheless, the book has an appeal for people interested in St. Patrick' day and Irish history and is complemented by striking illustrations of Mary and her quest to find the perfect shamrock.

[Della Tingle · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Irish immigrant girl in New York City desperately wishes to ride in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. The best part is the Author’s Note at the end…very informative and interesting!

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author combines the history of an Irish immigrant family to New York City in 1849, with the magic of an encounter with a leprechaun.

[Anne Wi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a fantastic book about a young Irish girl new to America in New York City. Her family came from Ireland. It is about her quest to find the perfect shamrock.

[Kristen King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to school to be an elementary school teacher, and I read this book for my Children's Literature class. I read it for a Historical Fiction credit. I remember reading this book in elementary school every year around St. Patrick's day. It is a good story and also touches on the history of the holiday. It talks briefly about the struggles the Irish Immigrants had to face and is easy for students to understand. The last page in the book, after the story has completed talks more in depth about St. Patrick's day and the Irish immigrants. It is a great story and also a great teaching tool, I would read this story to my class one day!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary McLean moves with her family to New York after her father's farm stops producing potatoes. She lives in an Irish neighborhood where the biggest event of the year is the St. Patrick's Day parade. Mary strikes a deal to participate in the parade, but she has to find a perfect shamrock in wintery New York to earn her spot.

The appearance of the leprechaun is weird and doesn't fit with the rest of the story. I wish they'd just kept to the immigrant experience which was interesting enough without the unexplained appearance of a magical creature.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary McLean moved to New York when the potato famine in Ireland forced a million Irish to look to America, for a better life. The story teaches children some of the history of the Irish who fled to American shores. There are full page color paintings throughout the story and an additional page of St. Patrick's Day history included at the end. Mr. Finnegan rides in a fabulous horse-drawn cart each year in the St. Patrick's Day parade. Mary dreams of riding with him in the next parade. However, in order to do that, she must find a perfect shamrock in her snow covered neighborhood.

[Laura Carby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book about a girl named Mary who learns much about Ireland history from neighbors. She loves hearing of the parade that Mr. Finnegan rode in each year. Mary was in charge of finding Mr. Finnegan a shamrock in snowy New York. The students love making predictions on how she could do this.

[Madison LibraryBookFamily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary McLean moved to New York during the potato blight in Ireland with her family. Hearing about the annual parade she wants to ride in Mister Finnegan's cart. He says he will take her if she finds a perfect shamrock. Mary searches high and low in the snow with little luck until she finds a leprechaun. Can he help her find a shamrock?

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was interesting mostly because it offered some insight into the life of some of America's Irish immigrants who arrived in NYC during the mid-1850's to start their life anew after the hardships they had survived in Ireland and while traveling to America.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

WAY over his head. He loves parades and they keep talking about one, but never really show one in the pictures. Maybe when he's older...

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh this was a good read for this weeks past holiday. Gave a simple explanation of Irish immigrants moving to New York, and a funny folktale-ish twist involving a leprechaun.

[Diana Pettis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this story to the boys yesterday. They liked it and so did I. I thought it was a good introduction for children who are not familiar with St. Patricks Day.

[Nanee Zogaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Culture! Good book to read for St.Patrick’s day, but it also looks at the hardships that many Irish immigrants were faced with in America.

[Maggie Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great st patricks day book for the kids, and reminded me of our trip to Ireland. Makes me miss the "old country" even though it wasnt my home.

[Jasmin Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Students love St. Patrick's Day. They will learn how the shamrock came about. This book also talks about the Irish immigrants difficult lives as they settled in Manhattan, New York.

[Megan]

Mary McLean and the St. Patrick's Day Parade by Steven Kroll (1993)