The Most Magnificent Thing

By Ashley Spires
Published in 2014

Why we chose this book:
It is pitted against Shark Lady in 2018 March Book Madness.

Mom's Review

An inventive girl copes with frustration when her project does not turn out as envisioned.

The Most Magnificent Thing is a story about frustration and perseverance. The little girl and her dog, pictured on the cover, are strangers to failure when building, so she expects to encounter no trouble with her latest plan. She becomes increasingly frustrated as her plans go awry, then angry, and finally quits. After a cool-down walk, she returns to her creations and sees that components of each failed attempt could be combined to finally create "the most magnificent thing."

As I mentioned in my Hands are Not for Hitting post, we are trying to help T process anger in a healthy way; I have perused many lists of books on anger and hitting. This was not included in any that I saw, and I wish it had been. The little girl's anger is completely understandable and her way of handling it healthy. This is one that I am keeping for a while in our "anger" collection instead of returning to the library after March Book Madness.

Son's Review
(son age 3 years)

Before reading:
Mom: I think I'm going to like this one. She's going down the street collecting things. I wonder what she'll do.

Son: And the doggie's holding the wrench!

While reading:
Son: It doesn't have a villain.

Mom: No, it doesn't have a villain. It has a problem. Tell me what the problem is.

Son: How it [the invention] doesn't look right.

Mom: What do you think she's going to do?

Son: Do it right.

After reading:
Mom: What did you like about it?

Son: I like that she got angry because sometimes I get angry.