Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match / Marisol McDonald no combina

By Monica Brown
Illustrated by Sara Palacios

Ebook

View the Teacher's Guide

Marisol McDonald has flaming red hair and nut-brown skin. Polka dots and stripes are her favorite combination. She prefers peanut butter and jelly burritos in her lunch box. To Marisol, these seemingly mismatched things make perfect sense together.

Other people wrinkle their nose in confusion at Marisol—can’t she just choose one or the other? Try as she might, in a world where everyone tries to put this biracial, Peruvian-Scottish-American girl into a box, Marisol McDonald doesn’t match. And that’s just fine with her.

A mestiza Peruvian American of European, Jewish, and Amerindian heritage, renowned author Monica Brown wrote this lively story to bring her own experience of being mismatched to life. Her buoyant prose is perfectly matched by Sara Palacios’ mixed media illustrations.

View and Download the Teacher's Guide

Check out the Lesson Plans, "Trees of Caring: Roots and Wings" and "Circles of Caring Community", from Welcoming Schools featuring Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match/Marisol McDonald no combina to help students learn from and connect with diverse family structures and how families support each other. To find other free activites, lesson plans, and book lists that celebrate diverse family structures and LGBTQ families, visit welcomingschools.org.

Check out the Marisol McDonald Activity Kit created by Leigh Courtney and provided by author Monica Brown.

Check out Making Matches art activity, made by Crayola® Creativity Central.

Discover the Story Guide in English or Spanish from Jumpstart, a national early education organization working toward the day every child in America enters kindergarten prepared to succeed.

Teach how to compare and contrast using Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match.

Explore learning activities for Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match from Learning for Justice, a project created by The Southern Poverty Law Center for those who care about diversity, equal opportunity, and respect for differences in schools.

Check out Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match in the Building Classroom Community in Kindergarten unit and collection.