Stella & Marigold

Starred review from July 15, 2024
The creators of Ivy & Bean return in this delightful series kickoff for early readers that follows sisters Stella and Marigold. In a beginning flashback, three-year-old Stella’s parents drop her off at her grandmother’s house, where she awaits their return from the hospital with her baby sister in tow. Upon the siblings’ first meeting, Stella promises to tell newborn Marigold “all the secret things I know,” a vow that sets the tone for the sisters’ budding relationship. After Marigold, now four, lies about having clogged the bathroom sink, her parents struggle to understand her decision-making processes. But older sister Stella, seven, “who explained the world to her,” has instant compassion for Marigold and helps to restore her confidence in herself and her relationships. Marigold in turn saves the day when a new girl threatens to steal Stella’s best friend. Short chapters by Barrows burst with vibrant and colorful illustrations by Blackall that bring the pale-skinned girls and their playful imaginations to life. The experience of being misunderstood by grown-ups is relatably rendered via the sisters’ interactions; readers will long for a sibling like Marigold or Stella. Ages 6–9.

Starred review from July 15, 2024
In this newest series starter from Ivy & Bean creators Barrows and Blackall, two loving sisters navigate the twists and turns of childhood. From the moment Marigold was born, her 3-year-old sister, Stella, was her world, and vice versa. Seven short chapters relate the adventures of imaginative second grader Stella and spiky preschooler Marigold. Barrows plunges readers into the joys, certainly, but also the deep and abiding frustrations of being a kid. Whether Marigold has a bad time at the zoo or Stella fears that she's losing her best friend, the two are always there for each other. The book homes in on distinct and familiar childhood moments with near-surgical skill; Barrows' description of apple juice no longer tasting quite right when Stella is sick is particularly apt ("It tasted like throat"). The stories are certainly in the vein of Ramona Quimby (which the art directly references), in that no one in this book is saintly, beyond reproach, or so perfect that you can't identify with them. Barrows also channels preschooler logic to an eerily accurate degree. Complementing the text, Blackall's superb, digitally rendered art renders Stella and Marigold (who both present white) with fairly simple designs, then brings to life their imaginings with incredibly detailed images featuring everything from magnificent lions to rooster heads. All the heart. None of the pablum. Sisterhood at its finest and freshest.(Early chapter book. 6-9)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from August 1, 2024
Grades 1-4 *Starred Review* Best known for their ever-popular Ivy + Bean series, Barrows and Blackall now offer the first volume in a new series featuring two sisters. Stella, a bright, imaginative seven-year-old, still remembers when her baby sister, Marigold, came home from the hospital four years ago. Now Marigold plays with children at nursery school several days a week, but she feels closest to Stella, who shares secrets, explains the world, and makes her feel better. The book's structure is episodic, telling a new story in each chapter. Several of these tales feature one or both of the girls creating an alternate reality that relieves them of responsibility for shenanigans such as clogging the sink drain or pretending to be lost at the zoo. Buoyed by an innate sense of fun, the narrative sweeps readers into a world of childhood misadventures and understanding family members. Blackall, who illustrated two Caldecott-winning books, Lindsay Mattick's Finding Winnie (2015) and her own Hello Lighthouse (2018), contributes bright, engaging color illustrations on every double-page spread. This early chapter book for independent readers would be equally enjoyable for reading aloud in homes and classrooms. Often amusing and sometimes endearing, it's a promising start for the Stella & Marigold series.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2024
Stella and Marigold, ages seven and four, are a force to be reckoned with. In eight tightly constructed, linked short stories, we follow the sisters through a domestic plumbing disaster, a visit to the zoo, events at school and preschool, and the construction and maintenance of a close sibling bond. Barrows and Blackall jointly inhabit that authentic childhood territory where the universal ordinary intersects with the specific odd. Stella has the flu. Her mother brings her apple juice. "Stella was surprised at how bad it tasted. It tasted like throat." The text tells us that as Marigold grows up, Stella explains the world to her. The accompanying illustration shows what some of those explanations might involve -- pickles, a jump rope, money, infinity, and more. The stories echo and resonate with one another. The fireplace tiles mentioned in passing in the second story? We finally get to see them near book's end. The theme here is storytelling, and the book is a little subversive in the best children's literature tradition, celebrating the thrill of fibbing even as it ostensibly warns against it. Barrows and Blackall walk this tightrope with skill, cheekiness, and palpable pleasure, their tightly interdependent approach to narrative mirroring the supportive and loving relationship of their two stalwart protagonists. Sarah Ellis

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from October 1, 2024

Gr 1-3-Barrows and Blackall, the team behind "Ivy and Bean," debut a feisty new duo in this slim chapter book. An opening flashback introduces Stella at age three, waiting in her family's "half-house" (the lower half of a duplex) for her parents to return from the hospital with newborn Marigold. The sisters' bond is immediate, with Stella whispering promises to tell Marigold "all the secret things I know...forever and ever." By ages seven and four, the sisters follow the tradition of countless literary pairs with polite and reserved Stella serving as a foil to plucky, mischievous Marigold. Each of the seven chapters functions as a complete narrative, with no overarching plot uniting them. The common thread is the sisters' mutual devotion, with each vignette providing an opportunity for one sister to serve as heroine to the other, protecting her from embarrassment and guilt or rescuing her from loneliness and boredom. Their relationship is never a source of narrative conflict and is always essential in its resolution. As always, Barrows offers a spot-on childlike perspective that is both funny and keenly observant. Blackall's whimsical illustrations capture the sisters' individual personalities and their shared adoration. Main characters are white. VERDICT This very witty, very tender ode to sisterhood is a first purchase.-Amy Reimann

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2024
Stella and Marigold, ages seven and four, are a force to be reckoned with. In eight tightly constructed, linked short stories, we follow the sisters through a domestic plumbing disaster, a visit to the zoo, events at school and preschool, and the construction and maintenance of a close sibling bond. Barrows and Blackall jointly inhabit that authentic childhood territory where the universal ordinary intersects with the specific odd. Stella has the flu. Her mother brings her apple juice. "Stella was surprised at how bad it tasted. It tasted like throat." The text tells us that as Marigold grows up, Stella explains the world to her. The accompanying illustration shows what some of those explanations might involve -- pickles, a jump rope, money, infinity, and more. The stories echo and resonate with one another. The fireplace tiles mentioned in passing in the second story? We finally get to see them near book's end. The theme here is storytelling, and the book is a little subversive in the best children's literature tradition, celebrating the thrill of fibbing even as it ostensibly warns against it. Barrows and Blackall walk this tightrope with skill, cheekiness, and palpable pleasure, their tightly interdependent approach to narrative mirroring the supportive and loving relationship of their two stalwart protagonists.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)