This book was really fun to read, especially out loud. The book tells a story in the form of several varieties of poems. Although the story jumps all over the place and tended to be overwhelming sometimes, I still felt that it's chaotic nature fit the story and the main character who is writing and narrating the book. The story is about a dog named Max who dreams of becoming a famous poet and living in Paris. In the meantime, Max lives in New York and surrounds himself with a wide variety of artists who seem a bit nonsensical in their pursuits. Eventually, it becomes clear that the pursuits of these artists don't have to make sense. They simply must stick to their passions and follow their dreams in order to successfully be happy. The poems were filled with a variety of stanza types, rhyme schemes, and lots of fun alliterations. I loved the chaotic nature of the illustrations as well. Many characters were drawn drastically different from one another with many exaggerated features. This book is as much about being an artist as it is about being a poet. ( )

Max Stravinsky, an aspiring poet and a New York City dog, longs to hit it big and move to Paris in this charmingly offbeat picture-book from author/artist Maira Kalman. From his home life with Morris and Ida - a shoe salesman and tango dancer, respectively - to his studio experiences with Bruno, who paints invisible paintings, Max's life is full of quirky characters, many of them artists and musicians, all of them dreamers. In the end, Max's own dreams do come true...

Originally published by Viking in 1990, Max Makes a Million, the first of four picture-book detailing the oddball adventures of the eponymous canine character, was reprinted this past year (2017) in this new edition by The New York Review Children's Collection, which specializes in giving deserving out-of-print children's books another chance. I enjoyed the story itself, thought the writing was occasionally quite poetic - "If I didn't mention before, / I should mention now. / This book is about dreams. / Wishful thinkers. / Dreamy blinkers. / Crazy nuts" - and found the artwork colorful and appealing, in a quirky montage kind of way. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books with oddball characters and an offbeat sense of humor. ( )

Max Makes A Million
Max the dog, a dreamer and he sells his book and he makes money. Enough to go on a trip to Paris.
His dream is to sell his book of poems and to live in Paris. Anybody can achieve what they set their mind to do.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device). ( )

Z and I both love the surrealistic, off-kilter humor of Maira Kalman. She's not for the person who likes their kids books calm, or with traditional illustrations, or full of easy-to-recognize vocabulary. But she is freaking hilarious. ( )

This is a great book to read aloud in the classroom. I could also be used in an older classroom to show an example of how design matters in ook. Max a motivated poet (and dog) is determined to make his fortune as a poet and move to Paris. The layout of the text interacts well with the modern illustrations. Cute book.