With over thirty years of teaching Grade One students, Anne Toole, author of Fat Maxine, has an awareness of and sensitivity to what upsets young children, and what can help them develop positive self-esteem. Once Toole retired, she embarked on writing books for children that deal with those social issues they face daily in their classrooms and after school. To date, she has six children's books to her credit, and all are the kind that will appeal to very young children, thanks to the beautiful illustrations by Richa Kinra, and to the rhyming poetry Toole has used to get her message across to youngsters.

The title, Fat Maxine, instantly tells us what this book is about: a little girl who liked to eat, who "enjoyed anything that tasted sweet," whose favorite foods were potato chips with dip ... and vanilla ice cream filled with chocolate chips! Possibly needless to say, Maxine also hated exercise which didn't help her looks or energy. Sadly, as many of us probably remember, children can be very cruel. The story of Fat Maxine is a tale as old as time, but Anne Toole brings the message home to children that bullying is unkind and hurtful. How does she do it? Well no one wants a story for children to end on a negative note and Toole know how to make sure it doesn't.

This is the kind of book parents and grandparents enjoy reading with children and that allows teachers room for classroom discussion. So it has a broad and important market. If there is one thing that adult readers might notice, it's that the poetry is sometimes stilted for the sake of rhyme, or that lines lose their musical rhythm. Fortunately, children will most likely be less critical of Toole's poetic skills than her peers as, for young children, the story and the illustrations in Fat Maxine matter far more than the medium through which the message is delivered.

Fat Maxine by Anne Toole is a lovely story, written in rhyme, which would comfort any child who is overweight, and it has a very intriguing twist. Maxine does begin to lose a few pounds, but not because she is ashamed of the way she looks, though it does make her unhappy, but due to being accepted by her classmates as a friend so she wants to go out and play and run off those excess calories. Fat Maxine would be a great book in school libraries, or for use in the classroom; it is not only plump, or even obese, children who should read it. Those who are the correct weight for their height and age would understand that teasing is unkind and unhelpful, and children know deep inside they’re not perfect either.

Fat Maxine is beautifully illustrated and written in flowing rhyme. Initially, Maxine’s experiences of school are not good. ‘The children would say, “Hurry up Maxine. The fattest girl we’ve ever seen!”’ Later, when she finds herself in a school softball team: ‘“You have to play Maxine,” she heard someone scream. “You’re the only one left on the team!”’ Maxine makes the winning home run after putting all her weight behind hitting the ball. The other children realise it’s wrong to judge a person by their looks and want to be friends. I recommend Fat Maxine by Anne Toole to everyone looking for gifts for the children in their life; it’s fun to read, and it subtly influences them to be kinder to themselves and to others.