School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-The little parrot at the center of Too Busy Marco (S & S, 2010) is back, and this time, just as he is feeling bored at home, his human mom sends him to school, explaining that it is a place where children go to "learn things." Marco's not so sure about this "school" thing and spends most of his time daydreaming about going to the Moon. Finally, it's playtime, and he enlists his classmates to help him build a tower of blocks to the planet. When it comes crashing down, his teacher steps in to brighten his day with a game of block basketball. Though the story meanders as wildly as Marco's attention span, it lands on a comforting truth-regardless of what goes wrong on his first day, Marco finds a friend. Chast's busy watercolors invoke the constant whirring of Marco's overactive imagination.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Marco the red parrot wanted to do everything (except sleep) in Too Busy Marco. His mind is still awhirl in this school-themed follow-up: while Marco's teacher, Mrs. Peachtree, drones on ("Monday Tuesday Chewsday Chumday Humday Doo-dah-day"), his thoughts are on becoming the first bird on the moon ("Must get to moon," reads the wired bird's thought bubble at naptime). Chast isn't interested in messages or lessons-Marco daydreams, has fun at school, and that's about it-and her scribbly ink-detailed watercolors and Marco's left-field observations convey his singular perspective with abundant humor. Ages 4-8. Agent: Jin Auh, the Wylie Agency. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
