Marshall Armstrong Is New To Our School (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
This is a book with a message about tolerance and diversity and unusual in that rather than being about gender, race or sexuality, is in relation to being 'cool' or a 'nerd'.Marshall Armstrong is an eccentric character who stands out for the 'wrong' reasons at school: he wears peculiar clothes, he rides a penny farthing, he is pale and stays out of the sun, he can't do PE, he doesn't have a TV and he eats strange food. The narrator of the book is tasked with looking after him at school and hates it, declaring that Marshall Armstrong "doesn't fit in".That all changes when the children go to his birthday party. Our narrator expects the party to be dull but sees a different side to Marshall; the party is unusual and fun and he realises that Marshall's difference means they get to try new things and learn from him.I didn't give this a higher rating because there are some parts I didn't understand the point of, for example "Bernadette has to go home early". Who is Bernadette? Why does she leave the party early? Does our narrator care? It seemed a weird detail in an otherwise carefully presented book.The book doesn't show Marshall getting upset at the children's initial reaction to him and so he comes across as a kid from a Wes Anderson film - i.e. spunky, smart and cool, even if the other kids don't realise it at first.A great book for discussion about not being judgmental! I really liked this book and overall thought it had a good message to young readers. The illustrations were good; very detailed to match the style of writing. I liked how the illustrations were simple, and looked as though they were done with colored pencils. To a young reader this seems as if someone their age could have done the drawing, which I think makes a younger student connect with the story more. The book was written in the point of view of a young student, and the illustrations truly matched. I felt this was the strongest thing that resonated with me while reading this book. I was most drawn to how the young student described Marshall, the new student to his school. His descriptions were extremely detailed, and in child friendly language. He described everything from his glasses to the freckles on his face. He even described his glasses as being owned by a different person because of the brand "Ray Ban" written on them. He uses other descriptions of Marshall like this one, which I thought made the writing in this picture book very unique. I would recommend this book to teachers and parents because of the unique style of writing, unique method of illustration and the overall message of the book. While not necessarily dealing with bullying, this book addresses the importance of not judging someone before you get to know them. Marshall was unique, and different from the other students. Knowing the other students did not like him, he invited everyone to his birthday party anyways. As it turns out, all the students loved Marshall after they got to know him. At the end of the book, the students in the class welcomed the another new student to the class. The end of the book displays the lesson that the students learned through Marshall coming to the new school. I would use this book in my classroom for a moral lesson. I cannot think of any other use to relate to subjects, but this moral theme is very important. I can see myself using this in the beginning of the year as students are meeting people they have never met before. As we all know bullying is a huge issue in schools today. Though this book does not directly deal with bullying, it is a small step to teach children to be kind to everyone and can help to at least prevent bullying in some way.
What do You think about Marshall Armstrong Is New To Our School (2011)?
I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There is nothing wrong with being different.
—Mariekristin
Makes you rethink the new and "different" kid at school. Fun read for preK-2nd and their adults.
—marieferrey
