Review by Booklist Review
The second volume in the Stella and Marigold series features two imaginative sisters, seven-year-old Stella and four-year-old Marigold, growing up together and dealing with uncomfortable situations at school or in their neighborhood. Each girl is loyal to her sister. When four-year-old Marigold swipes a mermaid statuette from a neighbor, her father insists that she return it and apologize. Stella swiftly rescues Marigold and immediately makes plans for running away from home with her. When realism casts doubt on their chance of success, they simply imagine an alternate scenario. Barrows, author of the beloved Ivy + Bean series, has a gift for revealing the sisters' reactions to situations that puzzle, provoke, or challenge them. There's ample space on the pages for pictures by Blackall, who has illustrated two Caldecott Award-winning books. Her sensitive line drawings make the characters' emotions clear, while her use of color gives the pages an appealing look. An inviting, sometimes amusing offering for children transitioning from beginning-reader books to chapter books or for adults to read aloud at home or in the classroom.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2--4--It's hard to go wrong with a writing and illustrating duo like Barrows and Blackall and the second book in Stella and Marigold doesn't disappoint. With an endearingly accurate portrayal of a child's world view, readers follow the seven-year-old Stella and four-and-eight-twelfths-year-old Marigold in their daily adventures living in their half of a house. In this story, the girls receive a purple book with writing prompts inside as a gift from the cousin they've never met. One of the prompts asks them to list their "besties" and there are just so many lines! Stella and Marigold set out to make more friends and fill those lines, but it's harder than they realize. Young readers will deeply relate to the everyday conundrums faced by Stella and Marigold as they move through the world and the gorgeous illustrations add another dimension of hilarity and understanding. VERDICT Recommended for purchase in all collections, especially where "Ivy and Bean" is beloved and still circulating.
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Review by Horn Book Review
Big sister Stella and little sister Marigold make a welcome return to the page with their own brand of sibling affection. The humor, energy, and poignancy of the first book (Stella & Marigold, rev. 9/24) hinged on their frequent, and entirely plausible, misunderstandings of the adult world, and they are still at it. Here they get the idea that the optimum number of friends is twenty-five, and in nine episodes they work hard to amass that number. During this quest, one (or both) of the duo steals a neighbor's tchotchke, fakes a bloody injury, discovers the solace of duct tape, and runs away from home. The pleasure lies in the fresh particularity of the details in both text and pictures. Nothing is generic. When the girls goof around, they play "catch-the-stuffie-with-your-feet." Blackall's illustration of itchy dresses captures that misery perfectly. The stolen object is not just a mermaid candleholder but a weird, sharp-toothed mermaid chewing on a sailor. This specificity works to keep sentimentality at bay. In a final scene, a kindly upstairs neighbor gives a touching little analysis of what true friendship involves. The girls listen politely, but they don't actually buy it. Life is just way more complicated than any adult seems to realize. A firmly child-centered delight. Sarah EllisNovember/December 2025 p.61 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The sisters introduced in the remarkableStella & Marigold (2024) tackle friendships and unnerving sirens. When the siblings' well-meaning cousin gives them each a journal, Stella discovers that the notebooks contain 25 lines where they can write in the names of their best friends. Both Stella, 7, and Marigold, 4, feel sharp pains of inadequacy at not having nearly enough pals. What follows are their attempts to make more friends, from their babysitter to their upstairs neighbor and their classmates. In one particularly fraught sequence, Marigold steals a disturbingly toothy (but very funny) mermaid candle holder from her upstairs neighbor; she plans to pretend to find it so he'll be grateful to her. Of course, the heart of the series lies with the relationship between its titular sisters, and the two are as close as ever; a scene where they briefly contemplate running away from home cements their mutual dedication. While the text isn't quite as hilarious as in the first volume, the art may actually be funnier (thanks to the mermaid), with its loving depiction of the realistically nuanced sororal relationship that made the first book a hit. Readers need not be familiar with the earlier installment to enjoy this latest. Both sisters present white; their community is diverse. Some things may come and go, but sisterly friendship like this will stand the test of time.(Early chapter book. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
