Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match / Marisol McDonald No Combina

Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match / Marisol McDonald No Combina by Monica Brown
Illustrated by Sara Palacios
Spanish translation by Adriana Domínguez
Published by Children's Book Press
2011
Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Books 2012

     Marisol McDonald doesn't match, that's what everybody tells her.  She has brown skin and red hair, wears green polka dots with purple stripes, and likes to write part of her name in print and part in cursive.  She's Peruvian-Scottish-American and when she speaks she likes to also mix English and Spanish.  She's happy the way she is, but others keep complaining, so Marisol decides to try to match, to combine her clothes and conform.  Thankfully, one of her teachers let's Marisol know that she's loved just the way she is.
     Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match / Marisol McDonald No Combina is a delightful story about loving yourself for who you truly are without trying to fit into any mold.  The story is written in English and Spanish (wonderful translation) and one of my favorite parts in when she mixes the two languages, and you can see the text mirrored in both side of the page -on the left in English with some words in Spanish, on the right in Spanish with some words in English.  Palacios' illustrations are beautiful and fresh.  Great book to open up conversations about multiculturalism in the classroom.