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Max and Friends #3
Max on the Farm
Max and Teresa, one of his best friends, wind up having more fun (and a little trouble) than they bargained for on a class fieldtrip to a farm.
32 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2019
About the author
Kyle Lukoff
31 books305 followersKyle Lukoff writes books for kids and other people.
Before becoming a full-time writer, Kyle worked at five bookstores, in four libraries, for three schools, as two genders, through one intersection: people, and books.
Before becoming a full-time writer, Kyle worked at five bookstores, in four libraries, for three schools, as two genders, through one intersection: people, and books.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 9, 2021
There are lots of great things about this book. We thought it was timely, inclusive, and the pictures were wonderful.
But, there was also a missed opportunity to talk about not only peer pressure but also consequences. Just because you get away with something doesn’t mean it was a good choice.
But, there was also a missed opportunity to talk about not only peer pressure but also consequences. Just because you get away with something doesn’t mean it was a good choice.
August 20, 2020
Um... are we not going to address the good and bad of peer pressure? A small missed opportunity in this charming book.
July 3, 2020
Max on the Farm by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Luciano Lozano, PICTURE BOOK Reycraft, 2020, $18. 9781478868637
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Max and Teresa like to get dirty, it's so much fun - and they usually get in trouble at the same time. Max doesn't like getting in trouble, Teresa doesn't care. Their class is going on an overnight field trip to a real farm. They get to learn about all the animals, eat farm food, learn how to square dance and sleep in the loft. But when Max and Teresa sneak out after dark in their PJs with flashlights to see the baby pigs, it turns into a big messy problem - but maybe if they are lucky they won't get in trouble.
Max is so cute - and the farm adventure is fun. This is book 3 in the Max and Friends series. Max is transgender; there are a couple of times in the story where he is sent to the "girls side" but the teacher quickly, and discretely explains about Max. It's fun to see a transgender character in a story that doesn't revolve around his identity, a good example of how to treat each other. A nice #ownvoices picture book to add to your collection.
Lisa Librarian
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Max and Teresa like to get dirty, it's so much fun - and they usually get in trouble at the same time. Max doesn't like getting in trouble, Teresa doesn't care. Their class is going on an overnight field trip to a real farm. They get to learn about all the animals, eat farm food, learn how to square dance and sleep in the loft. But when Max and Teresa sneak out after dark in their PJs with flashlights to see the baby pigs, it turns into a big messy problem - but maybe if they are lucky they won't get in trouble.
Max is so cute - and the farm adventure is fun. This is book 3 in the Max and Friends series. Max is transgender; there are a couple of times in the story where he is sent to the "girls side" but the teacher quickly, and discretely explains about Max. It's fun to see a transgender character in a story that doesn't revolve around his identity, a good example of how to treat each other. A nice #ownvoices picture book to add to your collection.
Lisa Librarian
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
July 13, 2023
Content warnings are listed at the end of my review!
The sequels to Call Me Max are just tarnishing what was initially a perfectly fine book by itself (my review). I loved Steven and Teresa in the inital book- but now they have both been developed into toxic friends to Max in these following books. I can't help but be irked at best by the fact that Steven a young Black boy is portrayed as thoughtless and selfish (Max and the Talent Show, my review), and Teresa who is portrayed with a darker skin tone than Max is portrayed as unclean and a troublemaker, while Max as a white child is portrayed as the "good kid". When Max as the white child in the group is portrayed as the voice of reason while the other children are portrayed as bad... you see the concerning pattern here? So while planting this concerning seed, this series in the last two books repeatedly shows peer pressure and Max's input being ignored by his "friends". Instead of making a lesson out of this, nothing ever happens to actually point out the harm, stop, or prevent it. There's cheap happy endings where Max is fine, but nothing of worth happens to justify the mistreatment even existing as a plot device in the first place.
This book just has no plot of interest, the story is even less cohesive than the last watered down entry. We get more background on Teresa, describing her as essentially a bad influence on Max. Max and his class go on a legally impossible field trip to a farm where his class sleeps in a hayloft after climbing an unstable ladder. There's some dry attempts at adding transphobic conflict that gets marginally better handling than the same point in the last book did, but it still just doesn't feel well done to me. It's certainly there, but other than that, it feels there just so you remember Max is trans. Teresa convinces Max to break into a pigpen at night and try to play with the piglets to the mother pig's dismay- and there's really no lesson out of this either besides do whatever you want as long as you don't get caught... but this isn't just childlike tomfoolery, they could have been severely injured.
Summary:
Readability: ★★☆☆☆☆, It's a kids book, there's poop jokes. That's all the positive things I can say.
Entertainment: ★☆☆☆☆, Well Max's only friends treat him poorly, Max is a monotonous and sad child, and there is no actual story or morals. What am I supposed to enjoy?
Audience: No more Max books unless they actually have something to bring to the table and handle the cast more mindfully. Only read the first book, and forget the last two exist.
Content Warnings: breaking rules, fear, messes, misgendering, poop, transphobia
The sequels to Call Me Max are just tarnishing what was initially a perfectly fine book by itself (my review). I loved Steven and Teresa in the inital book- but now they have both been developed into toxic friends to Max in these following books. I can't help but be irked at best by the fact that Steven a young Black boy is portrayed as thoughtless and selfish (Max and the Talent Show, my review), and Teresa who is portrayed with a darker skin tone than Max is portrayed as unclean and a troublemaker, while Max as a white child is portrayed as the "good kid". When Max as the white child in the group is portrayed as the voice of reason while the other children are portrayed as bad... you see the concerning pattern here? So while planting this concerning seed, this series in the last two books repeatedly shows peer pressure and Max's input being ignored by his "friends". Instead of making a lesson out of this, nothing ever happens to actually point out the harm, stop, or prevent it. There's cheap happy endings where Max is fine, but nothing of worth happens to justify the mistreatment even existing as a plot device in the first place.
This book just has no plot of interest, the story is even less cohesive than the last watered down entry. We get more background on Teresa, describing her as essentially a bad influence on Max. Max and his class go on a legally impossible field trip to a farm where his class sleeps in a hayloft after climbing an unstable ladder. There's some dry attempts at adding transphobic conflict that gets marginally better handling than the same point in the last book did, but it still just doesn't feel well done to me. It's certainly there, but other than that, it feels there just so you remember Max is trans. Teresa convinces Max to break into a pigpen at night and try to play with the piglets to the mother pig's dismay- and there's really no lesson out of this either besides do whatever you want as long as you don't get caught... but this isn't just childlike tomfoolery, they could have been severely injured.
Summary:
Readability: ★★☆☆☆☆, It's a kids book, there's poop jokes. That's all the positive things I can say.
Entertainment: ★☆☆☆☆, Well Max's only friends treat him poorly, Max is a monotonous and sad child, and there is no actual story or morals. What am I supposed to enjoy?
Audience: No more Max books unless they actually have something to bring to the table and handle the cast more mindfully. Only read the first book, and forget the last two exist.
Content Warnings: breaking rules, fear, messes, misgendering, poop, transphobia
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March 25, 2021In
Call Me Max
, we meet Max, a young (white) transgender boy -- but we also meet his two closest friends: Steven, a Black boy who likes to wear dresses; and Teresa, a brown-skinned girl with long black hair who's a bit of a tomboy.
This third book in the series focuses on Max and Teresa.
The book literally opens with, "My friend Teresa likes to get dirty. REALLY dirty." Max talks about various ways they play together and get dirty -- and also how he doesn't like getting in trouble, and it only happens when he plays with Teresa. "Teresa doesn't care about getting in trouble. She says it's part of the fun."
After recapping some of those incidents, Max tells us, "But we won't have time to get in trouble today. Or tomorrow. Our class is going on a field trip to a real farm!"
Of course Teresa has a wild idea while at the farm and drags Max along with her.
But first we join them for their uneventful first night and day on the farm.
As in Max and the Talent Show , Max's trans-ness comes up occasionally as unfamiliar adults think he's a girl (when the farmer sets the kids up in the hayloft to sleep, he directs Max to the girl side and, "The teacher pulls him aside to explain;" and when the square dance teacher thinks Max should be in the girls' side, Max tells us, "I sneak over to the boys' side. All the kids in my class know I belong there."). Max consistently reads as a boy in the illustrations (starting from the beginning of the very first book), so I can imagine some child-readers being confused as to why some adults think Max is a girl, but I really appreciate that Max reads unequivocally as a boy in the illustrations (not that anyone needs to "look like" a boy to be a boy, of course).
As the title suggests, a significant amount of the book is about their time on the farm -- bracketed by Teresa dragging Max into, "(maybe) get dirty and (maybe) get into trouble" hijinks.
I appreciated the contemporary -- "The farmer says that milking cows is done by machines now. So we don't learn how to do that." -- and non-romanticized -- "We learn how much poop cows make in a day. (A lot!)" -- depiction of a farm (though certainly farm life is overall depicted positively).
This third book in the series focuses on Max and Teresa.
The book literally opens with, "My friend Teresa likes to get dirty. REALLY dirty." Max talks about various ways they play together and get dirty -- and also how he doesn't like getting in trouble, and it only happens when he plays with Teresa. "Teresa doesn't care about getting in trouble. She says it's part of the fun."
After recapping some of those incidents, Max tells us, "But we won't have time to get in trouble today. Or tomorrow. Our class is going on a field trip to a real farm!"
Of course Teresa has a wild idea while at the farm and drags Max along with her.
But first we join them for their uneventful first night and day on the farm.
As in Max and the Talent Show , Max's trans-ness comes up occasionally as unfamiliar adults think he's a girl (when the farmer sets the kids up in the hayloft to sleep, he directs Max to the girl side and, "The teacher pulls him aside to explain;" and when the square dance teacher thinks Max should be in the girls' side, Max tells us, "I sneak over to the boys' side. All the kids in my class know I belong there."). Max consistently reads as a boy in the illustrations (starting from the beginning of the very first book), so I can imagine some child-readers being confused as to why some adults think Max is a girl, but I really appreciate that Max reads unequivocally as a boy in the illustrations (not that anyone needs to "look like" a boy to be a boy, of course).
As the title suggests, a significant amount of the book is about their time on the farm -- bracketed by Teresa dragging Max into, "(maybe) get dirty and (maybe) get into trouble" hijinks.
I appreciated the contemporary -- "The farmer says that milking cows is done by machines now. So we don't learn how to do that." -- and non-romanticized -- "We learn how much poop cows make in a day. (A lot!)" -- depiction of a farm (though certainly farm life is overall depicted positively).
January 28, 2023
Max and his classmates go on a field trip to a farm, and they do various farm-related things. Then they spend the night in the loft, which seems bizarre to me, and Max and another child sneak out to get into the pig pen. They're about to get caught, but then they run and hide, and they manage to play off their dirty clothes afterwards and not get in trouble. The book normalizes and encourages this disobedient, reckless, and deceptive behavior, and acts like it's clever and charming.
I had so many unanswered questions and concerns with this story. Max is transgender, and the plot device of the class sleeping in the loft is mainly a way to shoehorn in another reference about Max going over to the boy's side instead of the girl's. However, it is impossible to suspend disbelief about adults taking small children on an overnight field trip where they sleep in a barn loft. There are so many possible risks and liability issues involved, and it's totally unbelievable.
Of course, the children are not adequately supervised either, since Max and Teresa are able to escape into the night to go play in the pig sty. There are so many things wrong with this. Also, I'm not sure how old the children are supposed to be, but since this is a picture book, I wouldn't expect them to be any older than first or second grade. It's supposed to be cute and funny that they endanger themselves and lie about it afterwards, but it's not. The set-up is unbelievable and very concerning, and the book doesn't have any kind of message against peer pressure. The book basically tells kids to do whatever they want, and to be proud of themselves for getting away with wrongdoing.
I had so many unanswered questions and concerns with this story. Max is transgender, and the plot device of the class sleeping in the loft is mainly a way to shoehorn in another reference about Max going over to the boy's side instead of the girl's. However, it is impossible to suspend disbelief about adults taking small children on an overnight field trip where they sleep in a barn loft. There are so many possible risks and liability issues involved, and it's totally unbelievable.
Of course, the children are not adequately supervised either, since Max and Teresa are able to escape into the night to go play in the pig sty. There are so many things wrong with this. Also, I'm not sure how old the children are supposed to be, but since this is a picture book, I wouldn't expect them to be any older than first or second grade. It's supposed to be cute and funny that they endanger themselves and lie about it afterwards, but it's not. The set-up is unbelievable and very concerning, and the book doesn't have any kind of message against peer pressure. The book basically tells kids to do whatever they want, and to be proud of themselves for getting away with wrongdoing.
April 11, 2020
Max and Teresa like to get dirty, it's so much fun - and they usually get in trouble at the same time. Max doesn't like getting in trouble, Teresa doesn't care. Their class is going on an overnight field trip to a real farm. They get to learn about all the animals, eat farm food, learn how to square dance and sleep in the loft. But when Max and Teresa sneak out after dark in their PJs with flashlights to see the baby pigs, it turns into a big messy problem - but maybe if they are lucky they won't get in trouble.
Max is so cute - and the farm adventure is fun. This is book 3 in the Max and Friends series. Max is transgender; there are a couple of times in the story where he is sent to the "girls side" but the teacher quickly, and discretely explains about Max. It's fun to see a transgender character in a story that doesn't revolve around his identity, a good example of how to treat each other. A nice #ownvoices picture book to add to your collection.
For this and more of my reviews, visit http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com
Max is so cute - and the farm adventure is fun. This is book 3 in the Max and Friends series. Max is transgender; there are a couple of times in the story where he is sent to the "girls side" but the teacher quickly, and discretely explains about Max. It's fun to see a transgender character in a story that doesn't revolve around his identity, a good example of how to treat each other. A nice #ownvoices picture book to add to your collection.
For this and more of my reviews, visit http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com
February 26, 2022
The third book about Max, a trans boy.
In this episode, Max and his class are going on an overnight trip to the farm. They see the typical animals and sites, camping out in the barn. When Max and his friend Teresa sneak out to take a look at the pigs, they learn that pigs do not keep secrets.
What is remarkable about this book is that Max takes it all in stride when he is misidentified as a girl. He lets it roll off him and keeps going. Bravo, Max! Lukoff is doing us a favor showing how natural it can be to incorporate trans into the general population. Bravo, Kyle!
Illustrations by Luciano Lozano are bright and lively.
A must for schools and communities who have trans populations.
Recommended for PreS-grade 2.
In this episode, Max and his class are going on an overnight trip to the farm. They see the typical animals and sites, camping out in the barn. When Max and his friend Teresa sneak out to take a look at the pigs, they learn that pigs do not keep secrets.
What is remarkable about this book is that Max takes it all in stride when he is misidentified as a girl. He lets it roll off him and keeps going. Bravo, Max! Lukoff is doing us a favor showing how natural it can be to incorporate trans into the general population. Bravo, Kyle!
Illustrations by Luciano Lozano are bright and lively.
A must for schools and communities who have trans populations.
Recommended for PreS-grade 2.
June 1, 2023
I love this little series! Max being transgender is just a footnote in this story about an overnight field trip to a farm—mentioned briefly when Max is placed on the girls' side of the room by the farmer, but his teacher and classmates supporting him in switching to the boys' side—instead of being the focal point of the story. "Max on the Farm" is about Max and his friend Teresa's hijinks during a class field trip and it is so refreshing to see a series that treats being transgender in the same ordinary fashion that other books treat their cisgender characters.
October 7, 2021
10/7/2021 ~ This story depicts a class field trip to a farm: sleep in a hayloft, square dance, eat fresh food, feed animals, etc. Incidentally, Max is a trans boy. I appreciated how matter-of-fact Max's narration was. "The square dance teacher thought I should be on the girls' side. I sneak over to the boys' side. All the kids in my class know I belong there." (unpaged).
July 5, 2023
Mama pigs can kill a child. Max needs to choose healthier friendships. I want to love this series, I do, but I'm concerned that kids might think that it's ok to be bossed around by people who make unwise choices. You know, peer pressure.
September 23, 2020
Max always gets into trouble when he's with Teresa. They visit a farm for school trip and almost get in trouble for sneaking out and petting the piglets at night.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2021
Great story and pictures. Teresa talks Max into visiting piglets after bedtime. Against the rules, but the kind of adventure that makes the trip memorable. Modeling inclusion of transgender kids.
February 17, 2022
Such fun! Max is my new favorite early reader character, right up there with Poppleton.
June 9, 2023
My least favorite of the Max books but I loved how it casually introduces him being trans within the actual plot of the story. I wouldn't mind if there were more (and maybe longer) stories featuring Max.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews