Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/Marisol McDonald no combina:
A Picture Book Analysis
Casey Fox
INSC 571, Spring 2015
University of Tennessee School of Information Sciences
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Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/Marisol McDonald no combina, written by Monica
Brown and illustrated by Sara Palacios, received a 2012 Pura Belpre Honor and the 2012
International Latino Book Award for Best Bilingual Picture Book. It was published by San
Francisco’s Children’s Book Press in 2011.
Marisol tells her story in both English and Spanish, because while her mother is of
Peruvian descent, her father is Scottish-American. She has brown skin and red hair, a
Spanish first name and a Scottish last name, wears stripes with polka dots and eats peanut
butter and jelly burritos. In the first part of the book, Marisol is not at all perturbed by what
others see as her out-of-the-box personality, but then a friend challenges her by suggesting
she couldn’t match if she wanted to. The next day, Marisol tames her hair and puts on an
outfit that matches. When her teacher asks her what’s wrong, Marisol realizes she has no
good reason to try to match and that her uniqueness is what makes her special. She proudly
proclaims, “My name is Marisol McDonald and I don’t match because…I don’t want to!” (p.
26).
Sara Palacios’ bright mixed media illustrations communicate a sense of whimsy and
disorder; a fine complement to Marisol’s individuality. While the pictures follow the events
of the story, they also enhance the text by elaborating on Brown’s descriptions of Marisol’s
appearance and providing a visual picture of what it means when Marisol says she “doesn’t
match”. While the text is repeated in both English and Spanish (usually on facing pages) the
pictures span the verso and recto, adding cohesion and reminding the reader that the story
is the same, no matter which language it is in. Overall, Palacios’ choices throughout the
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book portray Marisol’s individuality and uniqueness as positive attributes, making it a
great book for preschool and school-age children to learn about diversity and acceptance of
others’ differences.
The book is a medium sized (8 ½ “x 10”) hardcover with a close-up drawing of
Marisol hanging upside down on the front. The title is displayed in both English and
Spanish, and the colors are bright and warm: orange, yellow, fuchsia and turquoise. The
front- and endpapers are bright yellow and covered in whimsical, childlike drawings in
crayon and pencil – clearly products of Marisol’s creative mind. It sets a playful tone for the
rest of the book. The title page features a teaser picture of a peanut butter and jelly burrito
and its ingredients in mixed media. Palacios uses cut-out text from books or magazines for
the labels on the food packages. The yellow background of the endpapers is replaced with a
peach-colored one, but the illustration still uses warm oranges and fuchsias.
On the first page, Marisol hangs upside-down from a tree limb and addresses the
audience, looking straight at them. The story is written in first person, and the drawing
reinforces that Marisol is speaking directly to the reader. The background shows rows of
shops and apartments, suggesting an urban neighborhood. This setting enhances Brown’s
text, as she does not describe Marisol’s home in the story at all. It is up to the pictures to
convey that she lives in a city with parks, skyscrapers and – as the reader will soon see – a
diverse population. In fact, an observant reader will note the hilly terrain, Transcontinental
Building and Golden Gate Bridge, all of which place Marisol’s home in a particular city,
rather than a generic “Anywhere, USA”.
Marisol is by far the brightest, most concrete image in the introductory spread: she
is all intense oranges, pinks, blues and yellows, and her face is outlined in strong black,
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while the background is drawn in pencil and uses more muted tones. This technique will be
utilized throughout the book and serves to keep the reader’s focus on the characters. While
the setting does add dimension to the story, Palacio takes care to keep the background in
the background.
As the book continues, Marisol remains the brightest object in every picture – until
her ill-fated attempt to “match”, at which point her colors, while still warm, are more
subdued and do not stand out as much from the rest of the page. This visual representation
of “fitting in” is well done, and conveys that trying to do so is not right for the little girl
previously established in the drawings as vibrant and unique.
The perspective varies from page to page, but it is most often at Marisol’s eye level,
whether she is hanging in a tree or sitting at a school desk. Occasionally the reader sees
events from above to give a fuller picture of the setting, as with a two-page spread showing
Marisol’s messy and artistically decorated bedroom or an overhead view of children
playing hopscotch. Additionally, there is a close-up picture of some of Marisol’s drawings
and art supplies that echoes the front- and endpapers. In one notable drawing, Marisol sits
on the ground towards the back of the picture. While the perspective is at her eye level, the
depth of the drawing allows close-up items to be larger and more detailed. In this case,
these objects are the feet and legs of Marisol’s classmates as they kick a soccer ball around
the playground. In this detail, Palacios includes a child with a band-aid on one knee and
another with an untied shoe and a hole in one leg of his pants, subtly illustrating that, in
fact, most children do not match in one way or another. None of Marisol’s friends are as
uniform as they may first appear. This spread demonstrates how shifts in the normal
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perspective of the book are meant to add further levels to the text, both by showing details
(in close-ups) and by showing broader context (in overhead views).
Sara Palacios’ illustrations in Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match aptly convey the
world of a little girl who so naturally embodies two different cultures that it does not even
occur to her that she is unusual. That world is creative, full of color and constructed out of
many different ingredients (hence the mixed-media approach). The pictures follow the
events of the story, but add depth by providing detail and context that author Monica
Brown does not even hint at in the text. By taking this approach, Palacios helps make
Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match a visual delight for readers of both English and Spanish, as
well as a testament to the beauty of individuality and accepting both oneself and others.