Beginning-to-Read Books: Realistic Fiction by Katherine Paterson

I'm quite fond of picture books and early reading books starring cute anthropomorphic little animals such as Frances the badger and Little Bear, but I appreciate Newbery Award winner Katherine Paterson's turning her able hand to writing an beginning-to-read book about a realistic six-year-old boy dealing with real-life matters. Her Marvin Gates stories show a rural family struggling to make a go of their dairy farm and meet the needs of their growing family and menagerie of well-loved animals.

In the first book, The Smallest Cow in the World Marvin is angry when his family leaves their rented farm and his favorite cow, Rosie. To cope with his sadness, Marvin pretends that Rosie has been shrunken to "the smallest cow in the world" and is responsible for damage to the family garden and the mess in his sister's room. Marvin's perceptive parents help Marvin to verbalize and deal with his feelings of loss and to adjust to their new farm. (Accelerated Reader level 2.0)

In the second book of the series, Marvin's Best Christmas Present Ever, Marvin's homemade Christmas wreath proves evergreen in more than one way when a bird builds a nest and raises its spring babies in the shelter of the wreath, to the joy and pleasure of his whole family. (AR level 2.3)

Marvin One Too Many begins with a poignant "Marvin Gates was scared." Marvin finds himself the last to arrive in his first-grade classroom, without a desk and "one too many" for the class size limit. Marvin's teacher is kind, but Marvin's lack of progress in reading soon increases his anxiety, which he covers up by saying, "Reading is dumb. Books are dumb." When belittled by his classmates, Marvin even starts a fight to cover the urge to cry in front of them. Desperately, Marvin wishes for a big snow storm to get him out of his miserable school situation, but when Marvin's wish comes true, he realizes that the storm causes real problems for his worried and overworked farm parents. Finally, Marvin's tears flow, and when he admits to his trouble at school, his parents respond sympathetically. His father confesses to reading problems in first grade and, along with his big sister May, agrees to work with Marvin daily until he learns to read. Of course, being Marvin, the first word he reads is cuh-ow, COW! (AR level 2.0)

Jane Clark Brown's simple illustrations add to the text by revealing Marvin's internal feelings perfectly, extending Paterson's empathetic text. As a beginning reading series with a unique character and setting, the Marvin Gates stories provide a gentle exposition of family values in a homey setting.