Pop Goes the Roses.
I am soooo a child of the 80s. I wore rubber bracelets. I wore crinoline skirts with high tops. I had about a zillion brightly colored scarves strategically tied around my wrists, in my hair, you name it. Neon colors popped out of my closet. My earrings never matched. I wanted to be Madonna.
At the age of 30-something, I still want to be Madonna. And not pop star Madonna. I want to be self-assured, business-woman, mother, successfully published author Madonna. That’s right, Madonna has gone all respectable on us.
I realize, on some level, this is “old news”. But not really. When The English Roses
Madonna has gone on to author several more children’s books (the English Roses Collection consists of five: The English Roses, Mr. Peabody’s Apples,
In 2006, Madonna updated the original English Roses book with the version, The English Roses: Too Good to Be True. In keeping with her international stature, the book was translated into several languages including Chichewa, the national language of Malawi. Malawi is, of course, the country where Madonna visited last fall to adopt a child, one year old David Banda.
Last year was also the first time that I took a peek at the books. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Did I love them? No. Did I hate them? No. The illustrations are delightful - Jeffrey Fulvimari is really very talented. The characters are cute and the dialogue is well done. And the stories do have a point, the overreaching theme in each book is a moral. In The English Roses, the moral is “… in the future, you might think twice before grumbling that someone else has a better life than you” no doubt geared at those folks who think that Madonna and daughter Lourdes have a picture-perfect life. I think the moral comes across as a little preachy - and maybe it’s because it’s Madonna. I’m willing to admit that I have a hard time believing that Lourdes leads anything but a pretty cushy life, and that taints my view of the book. A fair assessment? Of course not - but it’s kind of like if I read a romance novel from Steven King - I’d totally be expecting one of the protagonists to be revealed as an axe murderer. And with Madonna? Well expecting tolerance and humility from a woman who, as a tween, I watched reveal that her goal was to “rule the world” is kind of difficult. A little ironic, considering the whole point of her book is about not being so judgmental. Maybe I should read up a bit? At any rate, my view of the book, like that of many, is tainted by her celebrity. On the other hand, I suspect that her celebrity was directly responsible for the book being published. Quite the catch-22.
All of that said, the books are an enjoyable outing. If your kids are looking for a sweet story, beautifully drawn, you might want to take a peek. It’s not great literature but I suspect the kids won’t complain.
Madonna, The English Roses, Mr. Peabody’s Apples, The Adventures of Abdi, Lotsa de Casha, Yakov and the Seven Thieves, The English Roses: Too Good to be True, Jeffrey Fulvimari, Chichewa
April 3rd, 2007 at 8:02 pm
[...] It seems to be rather en vogue for celebrities to write children’s books. Madonna, Gloria Estefan, and John Lithgow have all had a hand in creating literature for kids. The View host Joy Behar also has a children’s book out, called SheetzuCacaPoopoo: My Kind of Dog. The book is about a dog called Max, who is a mixture of Shih Tzu, cocker spaniel, and poodle, hence the silly name. The book is beautifully illustrated by Gene Barretta. In the book, Max goes to the park and, at first, the purebred dogs don’t want anything to do with his and his “mutt” friends. The story teaches a common lesson of children’s books: just because someone is different than you, doesn’t mean that you cannot be friends. I am certainly no expert on children’s literature, but this book has a cute story and is worth borrowing from the library, especially if your kids like dogs, or if you have a mixed breed dog yourself. [...]
July 25th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
[...] 25th, 2007 by Kelly It seems that celeb moms/authors are everywhere these days: Jamie Lee Curtis, Madonna and even Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell). So today’s War of Words Wednesday question is: Which [...]