Mary is the happiest panda in the world. She loves to sing and dance and play the ukulele, but sometimes things get out of hand! Lucky she has her best friend, Marcus the snake, to help her out.
Get kids hooked on reading for life with the fully illustrated adventures of Mary and Marcus. From Australian Children’s Laureate Ursula Dubosarsky and award-winning illustrator Andrew Joyner comes five hilarious madcap stories about two very different friends, perfect for emerging readers.
With over sixty books between them, Dubosarsky and Joyner are both well versed in writing and illustrating children’s books. So, I was very glad to see them come together for Mary and Marcus: The Crazy Dance and Other Stories, a collection of stories that follow the lovable duo as they get into all sorts of trouble.
Mary is a panda who loves playing the ukulele (like Dubosarsky herself), dancing and accidentally causing lots of headaches for Marcus. Always looking out for Mary, Marcus is her polar opposite, but that’s what makes their friendship so much fun. Whether it be Mary dancing her way to the edge of the world or trying to get rid of a dreaded itchy foot, every story in this collection is short, sweet and funny in all the right ways.
The short story format is perfect for bedtime stories or classroom reading time. They won’t take long to read and can be enjoyed in any order. My personal favourite story is ‘The Swap’ in which Mary and Marcus switch roles for the day. Mary acts like a snake, lazily lying under the sun, while Marcus puts on his dancing boots and does Mary’s famous cha-cha-cha.
The story wouldn’t be complete without Joyner’s illustrations to tie it all together. His lively and cartoonish style captures the tone of each story and really brings the characters to life.
Full of quirky illustrations and hilarious shenanigans, Mary and Marcus: The Crazy Dance and Other Stories is a fantastic collection of stories for young children aged 4+.
Buy a copy of Mary and Marcus: The Crazy Dance and Other Stories here.
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