Maddie and Mabel - Kari Allen - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Kari Allen
ILLUSTRATOR: Tatjana Mai-Wyss
SERIES: Maddie and Mabel, #1
GENRE: Children's Fiction, Chapter Book.
RATING: 4.5 stars.

A sweet little story that shows the beauty of sibling relationships.

Maddie and Mabel are sisters. Maddie is the elder one; she’s the planner who wants to handle everything. Mabel is the younger one; she wants to contribute more in their fun. Together, they learn the value of having a sibling and discovers the joys of sharing, of having a partner to play, and of adjusting to each other’s wishes.

The sisters’ antics are assembled into five stories, each with a specific theme. Not every tale is moralising. Some of the tales are simply funny! I enjoyed all the little nuggets. The adventures of the children are quite relatable, so children are bound to enjoy this little gem.

This book is written in easy-to-understand vocabulary and each story has a lot of repetitive sentences to aid coherence. What’s worth mentioning is that the dialogues are exactly like the way children speak in real life. So this book will be amazing to read aloud at bedtime with such a writing format.

The illustrations are cute and simple and beautiful. As they are coloured in toned-down pastel shades rather than being too vibrant, they don't hit your eye hard and keep the focus on the story and the characters.

Heartily recommended for bedtime reading sessions with beginner readers, all the more if there are siblings involved.

My thanks to Kind World Publishing, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), and NetGalley for the ARC of “Maddie and Mabel”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

To read my review of the second book in this series: 'Maddie and Mabel Take the Lead', click HERE.

To read my review of the fourth book in this series: 'Maddie and Mabel Make a Plan', click HERE.

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