Gianna Marino
Author of Meet Me at the Moon
About the Author
Image credit: photo by Lisa Kristine
Works by Gianna Marino
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Short biography
- [excerpt from author's website]
Gianna Marino was born in San Francisco and spent her early years galloping horses through Golden Gate Park. Her explorations expanded after graduating from high school and in order to afford her many journeys, Gianna had several jobs at once: apprenticing a muralist, a jewelry designer, a product designer and driving horse carriages through the park. She explored many corners of the world, from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, to the South Pacific, Mongolia, and as crew on sailboats in the high seas.
Gianna finally landed a full-time freelance gig designing toys for children, but after several years in a corporate box with no windows, she left for good and began painting, illustrating and writing books for children.
Though she still wanders the world, Gianna now lives in Southern Colorado on an elk reserve and works full-time writing and illustrating. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Places of residence
- California, USA
Colorado, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- California, USA
Members
Reviews
No book of Marino's is ever the same; each offers a new experience, quirky, subversive, and funny. Her latest is a delightful foray into the complexities of friendship, boasting, and a little warning about listening to others.
The book is divided into four stories, each a few pages long. In each, the bigger, white mouse (Mountain Mouse) takes charge - with disastrous results. In "The food story" she takes charge of a piece of cheese, since she's bigger and can climb harder. Unfortunately, the show more "mountain" she's climbing isn't what she expected! In "The pool story" she leads her friends on an exciting adventure, diving into a pool. Unfortunately, the pool wasn't for them.... For the second time, the Mountain Mouse makes a perfect landing (on her friends). In "The bed story" she finds the perfect bed - but it's already occupied! In "The coconut story" her long-suffering friends, decked out in chic bathing suits and trepidatious expressions, are having a vacation at the beach. "I don't want to see glum faces." says the Mountain Mouse. They're just about to jump in when they see something in the water... Finally, she seems to have learned her lesson and they settle in for a relaxing vacation. Or has she?
There isn't really a moral to this story - it will certainly offer talking points about choosing who you follow, thinking before acting, and not taking unnecessary risk - but it's also just a hilarious story of all the things that can go wrong when you are the Mountain Mouse. The illustrations, created in large panels with speech bubbles, are a good introduction to kids of graphic storytelling and will also offer more scope for examining sequences of action.
Verdict: There's plenty of tie-ins for education in this story, but mostly it's just fun! Recommended.
ISBN: 9780451469557; Published 2016 by Viking; Borrowed from another library in my consortiumI am the mountain mouse: Four Furry Tales, One Crazy Mouse by Gianna Marino show less
The book is divided into four stories, each a few pages long. In each, the bigger, white mouse (Mountain Mouse) takes charge - with disastrous results. In "The food story" she takes charge of a piece of cheese, since she's bigger and can climb harder. Unfortunately, the show more "mountain" she's climbing isn't what she expected! In "The pool story" she leads her friends on an exciting adventure, diving into a pool. Unfortunately, the pool wasn't for them.... For the second time, the Mountain Mouse makes a perfect landing (on her friends). In "The bed story" she finds the perfect bed - but it's already occupied! In "The coconut story" her long-suffering friends, decked out in chic bathing suits and trepidatious expressions, are having a vacation at the beach. "I don't want to see glum faces." says the Mountain Mouse. They're just about to jump in when they see something in the water... Finally, she seems to have learned her lesson and they settle in for a relaxing vacation. Or has she?
There isn't really a moral to this story - it will certainly offer talking points about choosing who you follow, thinking before acting, and not taking unnecessary risk - but it's also just a hilarious story of all the things that can go wrong when you are the Mountain Mouse. The illustrations, created in large panels with speech bubbles, are a good introduction to kids of graphic storytelling and will also offer more scope for examining sequences of action.
Verdict: There's plenty of tie-ins for education in this story, but mostly it's just fun! Recommended.
ISBN: 9780451469557; Published 2016 by Viking; Borrowed from another library in my consortiumI am the mountain mouse: Four Furry Tales, One Crazy Mouse by Gianna Marino show less
One of the things I love about Gianna Marino is that, although she has a unique and recognizable style, she still manages to make each one of her books stand out on its own. I loved the gentle lesson of Too Tall Houses, the beauty and warmth of Following Papa's Song and now she brings us a humorous tale of exaggerated fears in Night Animals.
A skunk cheerfully greets a possum friend, who hastily shushes her "I'm hiding!" What are they hiding from? Night animals! Then along comes a scary wolf. show more But he's not after the skunk and possum (oops, too late for the skunk...) he's running from...scary night animals! One by one the animals panic until a small bat makes a trenchant observation "But you ARE night animals." On the other hand, maybe there is something scary out there...
I found this hilarious. The humorous details - possum's unfortunate encounters with skunk, the panic-eyed predators, deadpan comments, and surprise finish made me laugh out loud. Marino's illustrations are delightful. Against bold black background are brightly glowing fur, eyes, and finally the moon.
Verdict: This would make a great read-aloud with plenty of giggles for the kids, or an even more humorous puppet show. Recommended.
ISBN: 9780451469540; Published 2015 by Viking/Penguin; Borrowed from another library in my consortium show less
A skunk cheerfully greets a possum friend, who hastily shushes her "I'm hiding!" What are they hiding from? Night animals! Then along comes a scary wolf. show more But he's not after the skunk and possum (oops, too late for the skunk...) he's running from...scary night animals! One by one the animals panic until a small bat makes a trenchant observation "But you ARE night animals." On the other hand, maybe there is something scary out there...
I found this hilarious. The humorous details - possum's unfortunate encounters with skunk, the panic-eyed predators, deadpan comments, and surprise finish made me laugh out loud. Marino's illustrations are delightful. Against bold black background are brightly glowing fur, eyes, and finally the moon.
Verdict: This would make a great read-aloud with plenty of giggles for the kids, or an even more humorous puppet show. Recommended.
ISBN: 9780451469540; Published 2015 by Viking/Penguin; Borrowed from another library in my consortium show less
A gap-toothed and knobbly-kneed giraffe calf is playing hide-and-seek with her older brother. As she gambols across the savannah, she asks various animals if they've seen her brother, and describes him. The animals are confused - she's looking for a tall giraffe, but she's tall! "Not as tall as my brother." Says the calf. Her brother is brave, but she's brave too. Is she really as brave has her brother? When a leopard shows up, the calf will show just how brave she can be... just like her show more big brother.
Marino's sweet, repetitive story and light-filled watercolors combine to create a delightful story that kids and caregivers will want to read over and over again. The gentle call and answer, "You are tall" "not as tall as my brother." encourages listeners to read along and the numerous little secrets in the art will repay multiple reads. In most of the spreads, it's easy to see the watchful big brother, guarding his little sister as she playfully searches for him, but a more careful look shows a possible danger - a furry, spotted leopard who's stalking the calf. Or is he? The various animals stand out sharply against the yellow grass and green-blue sky, luminous with light. Rollings waves of the hills hide various creatures behind curled ferns, grasses, and a plump baobab tree.
Verdict: A lovely addition to Marino's comforting, thoughtful work and a great book to add to your storytime rotation. Recommended.
ISBN: 9780425290606; Published April 2019 by Viking Children's Books; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library show less
Marino's sweet, repetitive story and light-filled watercolors combine to create a delightful story that kids and caregivers will want to read over and over again. The gentle call and answer, "You are tall" "not as tall as my brother." encourages listeners to read along and the numerous little secrets in the art will repay multiple reads. In most of the spreads, it's easy to see the watchful big brother, guarding his little sister as she playfully searches for him, but a more careful look shows a possible danger - a furry, spotted leopard who's stalking the calf. Or is he? The various animals stand out sharply against the yellow grass and green-blue sky, luminous with light. Rollings waves of the hills hide various creatures behind curled ferns, grasses, and a plump baobab tree.
Verdict: A lovely addition to Marino's comforting, thoughtful work and a great book to add to your storytime rotation. Recommended.
ISBN: 9780425290606; Published April 2019 by Viking Children's Books; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library show less
I'm always eager to see a new book from Marino; her wide and varied repertoire has included such a wide range of art and story that I never know quite what to expect. In her latest book, readers will find a dreamy, stunningly illustrated ode to the love between a child and horse. "If I had a horse" the story begins, and goes on to imagine the wonderful adventures and slowly growing friendship of child and animal.
Swathes of color spread across the pages, showing the slow approach of a shy show more child and a horse, mane and hair both blowing in the wind, until they ride together across the landscape. There are no identifying details, only a changing panorama of colors. When the horse bucks the child off, swirls of blue, green, and yellow show anger; when they approach a new herd of horses the peaceful colors of a glowing sunset spread across the grasslands. The story ends with the fearless child, standing on the horse's back, arms outspread and hair flying in the wind, as the two friends surge across the page in deep purples and violets, set against streaks of blue and lavender.
Verdict: This dreamy story is the perfect wish fulfillment for a horse-loving reader and a peaceful read for calming down a raucous storytime. Accompany it with a painting program and encourage your audience to experiment with colors, match it with other stories about imagination, or just curl up with a child for a lovely bedtime story. Highly recommended.
ISBN: 9781626729087; Published 2018 by Roaring Brook; Borrowed from another library in my consortium show less
Swathes of color spread across the pages, showing the slow approach of a shy show more child and a horse, mane and hair both blowing in the wind, until they ride together across the landscape. There are no identifying details, only a changing panorama of colors. When the horse bucks the child off, swirls of blue, green, and yellow show anger; when they approach a new herd of horses the peaceful colors of a glowing sunset spread across the grasslands. The story ends with the fearless child, standing on the horse's back, arms outspread and hair flying in the wind, as the two friends surge across the page in deep purples and violets, set against streaks of blue and lavender.
Verdict: This dreamy story is the perfect wish fulfillment for a horse-loving reader and a peaceful read for calming down a raucous storytime. Accompany it with a painting program and encourage your audience to experiment with colors, match it with other stories about imagination, or just curl up with a child for a lovely bedtime story. Highly recommended.
ISBN: 9781626729087; Published 2018 by Roaring Brook; Borrowed from another library in my consortium show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 21
- Members
- 3,188
- Popularity
- #8,016
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 87
- ISBNs
- 67
- Languages
- 4