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What John Marco Saw
From the bestselling author Annie Barrows, What John Marco Saw is a captivating tale that celebrates the importance of slowing down.
Sometimes the smallest people have the biggest things to say: John Marco is small and everyone around him is big and busy–too busy to stop and listen. The thing is, John Marco is busy, too! He's busy noticing and exploring the world around him. Maybe everyone should slow down and pay attention to John Marco. If they do, they might witness some the incredible things John Marco sees.
• A stunning display of Barrows talent for creating stories that speak directly to young readers
• Features bright and richly illustrated pages that focus on John Marco's perspective and helps little minds connect with the story
• Annie Barrows has written many books for children, including the New York Times bestselling Ivy + Bean series—which has sold more than 5 million copies
Fans of Hungry Jim and What Can a Citizen Do? will also enjoy the charming illustrations and sweet storylines found in What John Marco Saw.
• Great family and classroom read-aloud book
• Books for kids ages 3-5
• Books for preschool and kindergarten students
Sometimes the smallest people have the biggest things to say: John Marco is small and everyone around him is big and busy–too busy to stop and listen. The thing is, John Marco is busy, too! He's busy noticing and exploring the world around him. Maybe everyone should slow down and pay attention to John Marco. If they do, they might witness some the incredible things John Marco sees.
• A stunning display of Barrows talent for creating stories that speak directly to young readers
• Features bright and richly illustrated pages that focus on John Marco's perspective and helps little minds connect with the story
• Annie Barrows has written many books for children, including the New York Times bestselling Ivy + Bean series—which has sold more than 5 million copies
Fans of Hungry Jim and What Can a Citizen Do? will also enjoy the charming illustrations and sweet storylines found in What John Marco Saw.
• Great family and classroom read-aloud book
• Books for kids ages 3-5
• Books for preschool and kindergarten students
44 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2019
1 person is currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Annie Barrows
86 books991 followersAnnie grew up in Northern California, and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, with a degree in Medieval History. Unable to find a job in the middle ages, she decided upon a career as an editor, eventually landing at Chronicle Books in San Francisco, where she was in charge of "all the books that nobody in their right mind would publish." After earning an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Mills College, Annie wrote (as Ann Fiery) a number of books for grown-ups about such diverse subjects as fortune-telling (she can read palms!), urban legends (there are no alligators in the sewer!), and opera (she knows what they're singing about!). In 2003, Annie grew weary of grown-ups, and began to write for kids, which she found to be way more fun.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 24, 2019
I really enjoyed the illustrations and the beginning half of the book. I thought I understood what the point of the book was but then it took a weird turn. The tree fell, which didn't really seem to go with the flow of the beginning of the book. And then the cat talked, which didn't seem weird to anyone. I think there was a lot of potential but it fell flat.
January 15, 2020
Simple text and illustrations describe the view of the world from the eyes of a child and an orange cat.
September 25, 2019
@chroniclebooke #partner
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Have you ever said something and realized NO ONE in the room was listening!!?! Talking to myself!! Ahhh!
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What John Marco Saw is about a LITTLE boy who notices BIG things all around him. He tries to tell people around him all the things he is noticing but NO ONE listens! Until one day, he REALLY yells an important thing he sees! Boy do they listen!
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This book is very relatable. We are all so busy that sometimes we don’t stop to notice or listen to something that may be very important.
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Check out the illustrations of the mom trying to juggle everything around her!! We all get it! Ahhhh! I will try to take more time to listen and look what my children are teaching me about the world!!
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Have you ever said something and realized NO ONE in the room was listening!!?! Talking to myself!! Ahhh!
.
What John Marco Saw is about a LITTLE boy who notices BIG things all around him. He tries to tell people around him all the things he is noticing but NO ONE listens! Until one day, he REALLY yells an important thing he sees! Boy do they listen!
.
This book is very relatable. We are all so busy that sometimes we don’t stop to notice or listen to something that may be very important.
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Check out the illustrations of the mom trying to juggle everything around her!! We all get it! Ahhhh! I will try to take more time to listen and look what my children are teaching me about the world!!
October 15, 2019
Reviewed for School Library Journal October 2019 issue. Full review found there.
"This is a quirky tale that many little ones will relate to. An optional purchase."
"This is a quirky tale that many little ones will relate to. An optional purchase."
October 31, 2019
Being small and going unnoticed flips into an adventure with discoveries, humor, and a situation which many younger kids can relate to.
John Marco is small and the youngest in his family. Everyone else is bigger and so loud. Unfortunately, he tends to go unnoticed, especially when he has something to say. But just because others refuse to acknowledge him doesn't mean he should be ignored.
After reading this one, I immediately handed it to my youngest daughter. She's small, has a quiet voice and is so much meeker than her older siblings. Just like Marco, she's often shoved aside and ignored when she has something to say—something which frustrates her to no end. So for our family, this was a very easy story to relate to.
John Marco is cute and sweet and a nice kid, but he gets lost under the rest of the family's louder members. His frustrations is easy to relate to, but yet, he doesn't let it bring him down. It's fun to follow him as he discovers things the rest of his family overlook. Unfortunately, they're too busy to listen to him even about these. It will grab young readers' attention, and they will empathize with him. Even though he never lets it get him down. And this is what makes John a character to root for. His attitude remains, for the most part, positive. The end of the tale holds humor and winds things up very nicely.
The illustrations make it easy to follow along and add the extra zest along the way. The characters are well depicted, allowing their personalities and emotions to come across clearly. Plus, it's fun to watch John make his discoveries. These too allow the humorous ending to come across wonderfully and are sure to add a few giggles along the way.
It's a cute read with a topic many young kids can identify with.
We received a complimentary copy and found it so fitting and easy to connect to that I'm leaving my honest thoughts.
John Marco is small and the youngest in his family. Everyone else is bigger and so loud. Unfortunately, he tends to go unnoticed, especially when he has something to say. But just because others refuse to acknowledge him doesn't mean he should be ignored.
After reading this one, I immediately handed it to my youngest daughter. She's small, has a quiet voice and is so much meeker than her older siblings. Just like Marco, she's often shoved aside and ignored when she has something to say—something which frustrates her to no end. So for our family, this was a very easy story to relate to.
John Marco is cute and sweet and a nice kid, but he gets lost under the rest of the family's louder members. His frustrations is easy to relate to, but yet, he doesn't let it bring him down. It's fun to follow him as he discovers things the rest of his family overlook. Unfortunately, they're too busy to listen to him even about these. It will grab young readers' attention, and they will empathize with him. Even though he never lets it get him down. And this is what makes John a character to root for. His attitude remains, for the most part, positive. The end of the tale holds humor and winds things up very nicely.
The illustrations make it easy to follow along and add the extra zest along the way. The characters are well depicted, allowing their personalities and emotions to come across clearly. Plus, it's fun to watch John make his discoveries. These too allow the humorous ending to come across wonderfully and are sure to add a few giggles along the way.
It's a cute read with a topic many young kids can identify with.
We received a complimentary copy and found it so fitting and easy to connect to that I'm leaving my honest thoughts.
June 29, 2020
Nearly every family has that youngest child who seems to want attention from everyone...John Marco is that for this family.
John Marco sees things in nature and can hardly wait to tell others in his family, for example the grasshopper, the fossil, and the fat cat. However, each family member ignores this youngest brother. One day he notices a tree is falling down in their yard, very slowly. He proclaims this loudly, drawing his family into the yard. No one notices the tree falling until it crashes to the ground. Once he has their admiration and attention, he notices a blue bird feather...
Barrows, author of the Ivy + Bean series, has given voice to the underappreciated youngest brother in the family, who is often perceived as a "bother" in her first picture book. This book is for that youngest brother to rebuild his self-esteem and a reminder for his family that he is not always crying "wolf" for attention. The action of the story is nicely paced. Nancy Lemon's digital illustrations succeed in showing the story from John Marco's eye-level. He sees the cat, the grasshopper, and the fossil. He also sees only the bottom half of the rest of his family - mainly their legs and feet - as they do not see things at his level until the fat cat tells them to pay attention, just as John Marco does. Only then do we see his parents, brothers, and sisters - his diverse family.
While not a new concept for a children's picture book, this is a fun look at a diverse family.
Additional read for PreSchool-grade 2.
John Marco sees things in nature and can hardly wait to tell others in his family, for example the grasshopper, the fossil, and the fat cat. However, each family member ignores this youngest brother. One day he notices a tree is falling down in their yard, very slowly. He proclaims this loudly, drawing his family into the yard. No one notices the tree falling until it crashes to the ground. Once he has their admiration and attention, he notices a blue bird feather...
Barrows, author of the Ivy + Bean series, has given voice to the underappreciated youngest brother in the family, who is often perceived as a "bother" in her first picture book. This book is for that youngest brother to rebuild his self-esteem and a reminder for his family that he is not always crying "wolf" for attention. The action of the story is nicely paced. Nancy Lemon's digital illustrations succeed in showing the story from John Marco's eye-level. He sees the cat, the grasshopper, and the fossil. He also sees only the bottom half of the rest of his family - mainly their legs and feet - as they do not see things at his level until the fat cat tells them to pay attention, just as John Marco does. Only then do we see his parents, brothers, and sisters - his diverse family.
While not a new concept for a children's picture book, this is a fun look at a diverse family.
Additional read for PreSchool-grade 2.
December 2, 2021
...huh. I really thought this was a story about the value of encouraging curiosity, and was going to end with the fat cat having kittens. Instead, a tree falls down - this could have worked, but it sort of happens off-screen? And it's not clear that this is a big and dangerous event, and if it made any difference that John Marco noticed it? And then the cat talks, which is a non-sequitur rather than a payoff, and then John Marco points at something else we can't see. There's some sort of vague symbolic word balloons that indicate that he is being celebrated, but it feels as if the author ran out of pages and had to wrap up the story quickly.
July 7, 2023
Will young readers -- aged 3-5 -- be interested in this youngest member of his family? John Marco is the quiet one.
Oh, it's so sad how ignored he is!
Yes, this story vindicates him. But in the future, will others start treating him differently... because of what just happened this one time?
This is a brilliant story, worth FIVE STARS. It's a timely story too. (To see what I mean, google "Collective Attention Deficit Disorder" -- and don't omit the quotation marks.)
THANK YOU, compassionate author Annie Barrows.
THANK YOU, artist with a distinctively "solid" style.
Oh, it's so sad how ignored he is!
Yes, this story vindicates him. But in the future, will others start treating him differently... because of what just happened this one time?
This is a brilliant story, worth FIVE STARS. It's a timely story too. (To see what I mean, google "Collective Attention Deficit Disorder" -- and don't omit the quotation marks.)
THANK YOU, compassionate author Annie Barrows.
THANK YOU, artist with a distinctively "solid" style.
January 31, 2020
I liked it. I could see reading it during storytime and having a lot of kids relate to not being heard. I understand people find the end weird where a tree just fell and a cat talked out of nowhere but, meh, it is ok to be weird in a book or have a cat talk for no reason. The part I did not like was the older kid's speech bubbles being emojis and such. When respecting one child's voice we don't have to disrespect older kids' voices.
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December 26, 2019Um, I don't quite understand this story. I guess it's about really looking at things, but it is pretty weird that a tree just fell down. And then a cat talks. And it's like wait, what? The cat is interesting how even when it's not on the page, there is still cat imagery on the page. The family is maybe Latinx?
November 1, 2020
John Marco is the smallest of his family, and among others as well. Whenever John wants to tell others what he saw or discovered everyone was always to busy to pay attention or listen to him. But one day when John Marco tried to tell the others what he saw, they all finally took notice.
May 17, 2021
Started out strong and then fell unexpectedly in the middle, sort of like a tree out of nowhere...no, EXACTLY like a tree out of nowhere. And then the cat talks, and then it's over...What just happened? Nope. No. Nuh-uh.
January 6, 2025
Sometimes grownups are so immersed in their own world they forget to listen but still, this book did really transmit the message it was trying to give.
It all felt like a dream the boy was having, specially when the cat talked.
It all felt like a dream the boy was having, specially when the cat talked.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2019
A cute book about how no one listens to the youngest of the family.
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December 3, 2019This book is made up of two different books that accidentally got combined, to make one weird book that doesn't make sense.
December 12, 2019
I was enjoying the pacing and feel of this and then it got a bit preachy at the end.
December 26, 2019
The story was okay. Not my favorite children's book.
January 9, 2020
I felt like I was missing something after reading this story. The story felt incoherent and the message was unclear. The illustrations were cute, though.
January 10, 2020
An elementary and up picture book about a young boy observing things in nature and trying to tell the people around him but they aren't really listening. Should they be?
January 11, 2020
Annie Barrow's picture book debut is both a funny and sincere exploration of being present and paying attention. I absolutely loved this book, and the illustrations added so much to the text!
February 24, 2020
This started out so cute and then got weird and sort of fizzled out.
April 5, 2020
Good story
April 25, 2020
I love, love, love the way that John Marco notices everything. I loved this sweet book that just happened to be based on a real-life experience.
September 17, 2020
This was a quirky one, but somehow reading it in 2020 makes sense and fits in with this year perfectly
January 6, 2021
I liked the idea at the beginning, but I got really lost. I don't know what point they were trying to make but I definitely missed it.
May 8, 2021
Why did the cat talk? And what caused the tree to fall down?
August 29, 2019
Digital illustrations complement a story that reminds readers to slow down and pay attention to the little things. Because he is small, John Marco tends to be ignored by those around him. Everyone's just too busy or too loud or too preoccupied or dismissive to bother with him. No one listens to him, and he has noticed plenty of things he wants to share. He finally gets everyone's attention when he realizes that a tree in the front yard is falling. As it turns out, that might be the start of John Marco being paid attention to more often. He's clearly observant and has plenty to say, based on what he's noticed. I liked how the last illustration shows his family gathered around the fallen tree while he points out a blue feather belonging to a blue bird. In the end, readers will realize that what John Marco saw was certainly worth noting and it's probably a good idea not to ignore what others say, even when they are youngsters.
October 10, 2019
Everyone is too busy to listen to what John Marco saw out in the yard. The worms don't interest anybody, the orange cat doesn't interest anybody and his siblings for certain don't want to hear about any grasshopper. But people better take notice when John Marco starts yelling! What John Marco Saw by Annie Barrows is sure to please kids who love an unexpected ending. For ages 4 - 8.
October 14, 2019
Cute reminder to slow down and pay attention to the life around us.
October 21, 2019
Great for teaching Paying attention to details and focusing
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews