Practice Makes (Almost) Perfect: Book 2

by Hannah Carmona, Adriana Predoi (Illustrator)

Overview

Maria and Mateo are eager to start rehearsals for the school play. But it turns out there is much more to putting on a play than beautiful costumes and adoring fans. It takes sharing the spotlight, learning lines, and practicing difficult dance moves–and not all of those tasks are easy or fun. Can the cousins put in the work to make a crowd-pleasing performance?

Theater kids Maria and Mateo are two talented second graders who love the spotlight. But they soon find that theater is not only fun–it can also teach important life lessons. Join these high-spirited cousins as they learn how to improvise through life’s plot twists to shine both onstage and off.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631637339
Publisher:	North Star Editions
Publication date:	08/01/2023
Series:	Maria and Mateo Take the Stage
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	590L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Hannah Carmona is the best-selling picture book author of Anita and the Dragons, Dazzling Travis, and Beautiful, Wonderful, Strong Little Me! She started out as a stage actor, with a BA in theater from Western Kentucky University, and went on to direct children’s theater for many years after. Now, when Hannah is not writing, she narrates audiobooks and spends time studying herbal medicine. Hannah lives in Tennessee with her two daughters and dog who thinks he's a cat.

Adriana Predoi grew up in Romania where she studied mural art in high school and later earned a BA in Fine Arts. She now focuses on children’s illustration and works from her home studio in London. Her style is whimsical and features a touch of magic. She gets inspiration from plants, nature, and best of all, books! In her free time, she loves reading fiction, writing stories for children, and making a total mess in the kitchen.

Editorial Reviews

07/01/2023

Gr 1–3—This series speaks to young readers who dream of being on stage. In the first book, Stage Fright, cousins Maria and Mateo are eager to jump into their school play. It's audition day and Maria has a bad case of stage fright. Happily, Mateo steps in to help her overcome it. In the second book, Practice Makes (Almost) Perfect, it's the first day of practice, but the two cousins have gotten so caught up in the excitement of the costumes that they skipped the harder things like practicing their dance moves. Once on stage, rehearsal quickly becomes a disaster; they bump into almost everybody, turn stage left instead of stage right, and jump when they should be slide stepping. With that, Maria and Mateo both learn a valuable theatrical and life lesson: practice is important and by working hard, they will avoid the embarrassment of letting themselves and their friends down. Predoi fills the pages with vibrantly colored illustrations of Latine children and adults. Using a carefully chosen mixture of English and Spanish words to tell the story, Carmona includes glossaries of Spanish language and theatrical terms that define unfamiliar words for young readers. VERDICT Despite how artfully the author and illustrator have worked together to tell these stories, the series is singularly focused "on stage," and that fact will likely limit their young reader audience to wanna-be theater kids.—Cheryl Blevens

School Library Journal

"This series speaks to young readers who dream of being on stage." —School Library Journal

“Once again, Carmona shares crucial life sessions such as the importance of not giving up and working hard to reach your goals. This is another story that would be enjoyed in classrooms and households that speak Spanish or by any child with a love for theater.” —Children's Literature

From the Publisher