I love Ashley Spires’ books, and this one did not disappoint! Working with partners is hard, and I think a lot of students will relate to this story. I like how it didn’t gloss over the fact that these girls are definitely going to disagree again. You can get past it and make something good together. I love these books for our library and makerspace- we’ll definitely be adding it to our collection!

Sweet Story About Finding Common Ground & Working Together!

Overall: 4 ⭐
Plot/Lesson*: 4📍
Smiles: 3😁
Illustrations: 5 🖌️
Suggested Ages: 0 - 3 y/o

“Mom's” Review:

As this is a children's book, and my older daughter, A°., is a new reader, we read this one together. Overall, a really cute story, roughly 40 pages. It's nice to not give names to the characters, instead being ‘the girl” and ”the neighbor.” It ends up giving them some small level of “any girl” and “any neighbor” which was nice!

The lesson of learning to play well with someone whose process is totally different than yours is quite well translated. Kiddo picked up on that right away. Both act poorly and both need to step back a moment to reevaluate. However, the story did seem to favor one character’s process over another - enough so A. seemed to think the story initially was trying to make that point.

I loved the illustrations! With the background settings either black and white or monotone, the focus remained on the beautifully drawn, adorable characters and their pet “assistants” (who each had delightful personalities, too!)

This was our first time reading Ashley Spires and A. already requested to find the other books. So cute!

A’s^ Review:

“My favorite part is when the two friends take a breath - b/c when they got mad, they took a deep breath to calm down & then they started working together. That's what we're supposed to do and I try to remember that even if it's hard sometimes.

I also really liked the pictures! The neighbor had mismatched socks, just like me, which was so cool. And my fave picture was when the dog was kissing the cat. That was so funny!”

Thank you to Ashley Spires, Net Galley, & Kids Can Press for the opportunity to read and review and early copy this book!
All opinions are our own.

* I count Plot/Lesson as how well the intended message or story-line translates to the target age group.
° A. is my daughter, currently at a ”Ready To Read” Level 3, who read the book to/with me.
^ A. had the smallest bit of trouble with a few new-to-her words, but nothing major.

Thank you NetGalley and Kids Can Press for my copy of "The Most Magnificent Team."

🐾🐾🐾🐾 4 Paws from Aubrey the Lab Mix... aka, the Labrarian!

The Most Magnificent Team was a tail-wagging treat! The story reminds young readers that teamwork can be ruff—but also rewarding. A perfect pick for friends (new and old) learning how to build something together!

This book has a wonderful message and is a good example for kids on how to work with others. Something I have had to work of with students is listening to each others ideas and this book shows not only that but also how you can get frustrated with the feedback. I thought it was good that it show this because it also teaches that you can feel those feeling but you still need to be respectful of them and taking time to process is ok. I think it would have been good to include a page about one of the girls asking for a break to show a little self advocacy.

A very sweet book that helps us (even adults) remember that we can do more together than we can apart. Can't wait to see more from this magnificent team!

This book continue to teach us about working together as a team and being successful. I love that they created a magnificent team and how they work to garner support together and just show kids from different backgrounds working together. I loved it.

Terrific addition to this series. Excellent readaloud to prepare for group work or to talk about conflict and conflict resolution. Also a good prompt to talk about how different people can approach a task in different ways without either one being "right" or "wrong." As always, the illustrations are spectacular - Spires' work calls to me from across the bookstore/library every time.

A very decent look at young scientists not getting along. This is the fourth in a series of books to feature the star maker of the neighbourhood – but lo and behold there's a second one, and they could collaborate, couldn't they? Well they could, if they could agree on all the important parts, and design, and process, and that bit with the rope… Books showing kids falling out and making up are quite common, but this, with the focus on STEM thinking and construction, is distinctive. The whole look is wonderful, too, with the backgrounds in wireframe and the characters much more like full-figured, full-coloured creations, so they really pop. I like the way the text and illustrations alike get to have so many mentions of the intended product, but we're never privy to what it is until as late as possible. There's probably more work put into this than was strictly necessary for it to be a success, and I'm all for that – so four and a half stars.

This fun adventure is all about working with others and working as a team. When a young girl and her
dog want to go to their favorite workspace to create something things don't go as planned. There they find their neighbor with her cat. They decide to create together but soon discover they have their own idea and ways of doing things.
A great story sharing with our little ones the importance of team work and learning to work together. They see how important it is and learning to compromise can help with many problems they may face. The story
is humorous but at the same time sends a great message about letting others be themselves be creative all while getting along with each other.
Great to share with your little ones or in a classroom. Enjoy this adventure together.

I’m a big fan of The Most Magnificent Thing so I was so excited to read this book and it did not disappoint! The conflict is so relatable (I have two kids at home that are constantly bickering and arguing so this felt very familiar) and the realistic way that the kids end up managing different ideas makes me want to use this story as a teachable moment to encourage cooperation in the future. It would be a great addition to an elementary school classroom or library as well.

What a fantastic children’s book about the challenges AND joys of working together! This is a message my children, ages 6 and 8, definitely need to hear (as do many adults, including myself!). I love when a book appears to be for children, but is really meant for everyone ;).

From the beginning there is tension building, someone is in “the girl’s” spot. Then they decide to work together, but it’s so hard to accept another POV on how to do things, and even harder to have humility about our own ideas and work! The natural process leads them away from each other and then back together again without any formal or adult input or direction.

The illustrations accurately portray emotions and thought-processes, plus they’re very attractive! Definitely a need-to-purchase book and will be reading and rereading it for many years to come.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In a Nutshell: The fourth picture book of the ‘Most Magnificent’ series, and possibly the most helpful one for today’s kids. The focus is on team work, and the resultant content is funny as well as practical. Much recommended!

Plot Preview:
Our little tinkerer, still unnamed after four books, and her pug are as amazing as ever at working together and creating stuff. One day, when the girl goes to her usual place to work on her latest brainwave, she sees that there’s someone already there: a new neighbour with her pet cat. This neighbour also seems to love inventing, so the girl offers her a chance to work together on her new project. But when two strong-minded imaginative thinkers get together, can the going be easy?


The first three books of this series have been quite helpful in getting kids to use their imagination and handle creative disappointments, but when working alone. (Or perhaps I should say, when working as the sole human on a project with the only assistant being your pet dog.) However, for most kids today, school projects are group projects. Working as part of a team (with humans, not dogs) requires a whole different skillset, and many children struggle to be as effective when they are in a group. As such, this story is possibly the most useful for today’s kids.

Our usual tinkerer is still unnamed; an idea I have come to appreciate as it helps us see the character in a generic mould without any preconceived name bias. It is fun to see a new human character finally added to this series, and this creative companion is also unnamed, referred to just as ‘neighbor’. The grey cat finally gets a proper role in this series, as the neighbour’s pet. So it is not just our tinkerer who has to learn to work together with a new friend, but her assistant pug also has to share assistant credentials with a cat!

The text is marvellous as always. Written in ordinary prose, the content encompasses several action words and emotive words. This book also follows the series pattern of writing some words in CAPS for greater stress. One more thing I noticed is how the girl constantly thinks in terms of ‘MAGNIFICENT’, thereby justifying the name of the series.

The illustrations are again stunning. I am amazed at the creativity of the author, who is also the illustrator of this entire series. Every single graphic has so much detailing! I especially enjoyed the expressions of the two animal characters.

On an aside, I am really enjoying the dedications in these books. They are always apt for the story!

Overall, this has been one heck of a series. I’d strongly recommend all the books to imaginative little inventors and artists aged 4-8 years. The book is a standalone and the entire series can be read in any order. If there are any more Most Magnificent books in future, I’ll be sure to grab them.

4.5 stars.

My thanks to Kids Can Press for providing the DRC of “The Most Magnificent Team” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

This is a lovely addition to this beloved series. The illustrations are delightful, and the text is just right. Ashley Spires takes us through all the things we may have experienced or will experience should we ever work on a team.

This is a much needed book on peer collaboration. The story explores two kids who working on solo projects meet each other for the first time. There is initial interest in combining their ideas. However, it’s hard for them to agree and exchange feedback. Eventually though, both kids realize that the effort of figuring out how to work well together, results in the most magnificent idea, better than anything they would have done alone.

This was such a great book about collaboration! I loved that this book showed the different dynamics of a collaborative relationship and that it’s not always easy to combine ideas, however, when two minds come together, great things can happen! I can’t wait to use this in my elementary library, especially when we are doing collaborative STEAM lessons!

What a great picture book about the power of collaboration and team work! The illustrations are cute and relatable and I think most children who have read previous books on the series will come to know and love this story just as much. The story has elements of stem and engineering and I love that it features little girls who are constructing an idea together. As a parent and a teacher, not only would I read this book to my own child, but also my classroom. I would definitely use this book as provocation before doing a STEM design challenge.

I really enjoyed this book. I will be using it in my classroom as well as recommending it to my students and fellow educators. Loved the illustrations.

I received an ARC of this children's book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful book. It's part of a series, and I haven't read the other books in the series, but I plan to now that I see how great this one. The pictures are adorable and so is the story!

The girl and her dog are going out to make a new thing. Only there's somebody already there. In her place. What is she to do? Except make a friend. But the two have very different working styles. Will they be able to work through them?
I normally enjoy Spires books and this one was... fine. While the conflict was well-defined, the resolution was a little mushier.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out May 6, 2025
ARC kindly provided by Kids Can Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

What can I say? I liked the first book—and I liked this one too, the fourth in the series.
Ashley Spires continues to deliver smart, thoughtful messages for kids in a fun and relatable way. This time, it's all about collaboration, compromise, and learning that “great” doesn’t always mean “perfect.”
A solid addition to a magnificent series!