Madonna to write children's books

[Arctic]

Madonna recently signed a five book publishing deal with Calloway Editions. The first in the series of illustrated children's books, The English Roses, will be released in September. The books are aimed toward children six-years-old and younger, and each will feature drawings by a different well-known illustrator. In other news, Madonna's next album, American Life, will hit record stores in April. The title track will ship to radio on March 25.

i wonder what kind of stories she'll be telling.

[Josh]

lol. :) :) :)

[Arctic]

4/17/03 Mama don't preach
Singer Madonna has announced that her upcoming children's books are based on the Kabbalah, the mystical Hebrew text. "I have a teacher I've been studying the Kabbalah with for the last almost seven years now, and he's suggested that I write some children's stories based on a lot of things that I've learned in the Kabbalah," she said in an interview with music channel VH-1. When reading to her son, she "couldn't believe how vapid and vacant and empty all the stories were. There were like no lessons, just all about princesses and like the beautiful prince arrives and he takes her for his wife and nothing happens. Nobody asks her what her opinion is, or I didn't see anybody struggling for things. There's like no books about anything." The first of five books, all to be published by Penguin, is titled The English Roses and will be released in September.

The Kabbalah? since when is scotswoman Madonna Jewish? maybe she's trying to get back to her roots...

[Josh]

The Kabalah???

I was convinced that this couldn't possibly get weirder! I was sooo wrong.

[Bluntchop]

So, did anybody pick up Madonna's kiddie book yet? :D

[crappertay]

Well Madonna's book sold 8000 copies in the UK.

To put it in perspective it's currently the second higest seller in the children's book chart.

However, three months down the line and Harry Potter is still selling more than anything else and holds the top spot.

[Arctic]

while picking up the potter book three days ago, i also got a chance to spend the three minutes required to read through Madonna's latest publication. I have some familiarly with the teachings of the Kaballah, and I have to say that it's not exactly clear to me which teachings Madonna is supposedly basing her new book on.

In a nutshell here's the book:

four young girls are good friends. They shun this other girl who's really pretty because they're jealous of the attention she gets. A fairy godmother visits the four girls in a dream and shows them what the fifth girl's life is really like (friendless and motherless). the fairy godmother tells them to go visit and be nice to the girl. they do, and as a result they start getting the attention they were jealous of. The end.

The art in the book is good and politically correct, but nothing remarkable. The tale is told from the perspective of a rat, who has a habit of making side comments about why everyone should listen to what he's saying.

overall not a bad book, but definitely not groundbreaking.

[Arctic]

just browsing at amazon and thought i'd share this review of The Engligh Roses:
**000 The Vision of Dr. Seuss twisted beyond recognition, October 2, 2003

Reviewer: gastondevereaux (see more about me) from The City of Lights - Paris, France

Nicole and Amy run the cone bra shop in the foot of the Magic Oak Tree by the Wobbly Dum-Dum bush in the shade of the Magic Glade down in Dingly Dell. Here they sell contraceptives. Charlotte and Grace the sea fairies, are rough tough jolly sorts of women. They love the life of the sea and they love to hang out down by the pier where the men dress as ladies. So starts this new and quite frankly shocking children's book.

I am not familiar with the author, but have been made to understand that she is a singer of some repute in the Americas. As she only has one name I can only imagine she of the same ilk as that other 'singing' artist known as Cher. I sincerely doubt this Madonna person's abilities put her even remotely in the same singing league as that global phenom and vocal sensation, Charo.

Whatever whimsical qualities her music may invoke is lost completely in this frightening collection of what can only be called pixierotica. There's an unusually high number of characters in cut-off lace gloves, bridal gowns, black leather and the aforementioned cone bras. What this has to do with a children's tale, I do not know.

It was my intent to read this novel to my son Guillaume who is an ardent fan of children's books. He did not find it very entertaining. I reminded him that the author was merely trying to express herself and he shouldn't fear the depictions of leather-clad goblins and leotard wearing warlocks. If this frightened Guillaume, I believe it will frighten your children as well.

Two stars for the breathtaking illustrations of cartoon fairies wearing cone bras. Such detail!

[Josh]

It is great to finally see someone teaching children about how difficult to be pretty in this world. Pretty people suffer more than anyone else! Ugly people have it easy!

Wait a minute...

What a load of crap that book is.

[Arctic]

so...madonna's second book is out. hooray.

Posted on Tue, Nov. 04, 2003
Madonna's Second Kid's Book Is Hokey
SAMANTHA CRITCHELL Associated Press

NEW YORK - Less than two months after her debut as a children's author, Madonna has returned to publishing with "Mr. Peabody's Apples."

The book takes a more conventional approach to a picture book than Madonna's previous book, "The English Roses," which debuted atop The New York Times' list of children's best sellers and remained there for five weeks.

The story in "Mr. Peabody's Apples" is a little hokey. It begins: "In the town of Happville (which wasn't a very big town), Mr. Peabody was congratulating his Little League team on a great game. They had not won, but no one really cared, because they'd had such a good time playing."

But when Billy Little ("who wasn't a very big boy"), Mr. Peabody's No. 1 fan, hears a rumor that Mr. Peabody is a shoplifter, Billy turns on his baseball mentor just like everyone else in town.

Being a children's picture book, though, the good guys win in the end, and the rumor monger learns his lesson. The book's full-page illustrations by Loren Long are done in a Norman Rockwell-like style, and there's a moral learned at the end.

Madonna followed these tried-and-true formulas and that's why "Mr. Peabody's Apples" works and likely will entertain young readers. But it is also why the book seems a little stale.

With "The English Roses," she crafted a more original story of envy and friendship, a story more complicated than "Mr. Peabody's Apples." And she utilized colorful line-drawn portraits by fashion artist Jeffrey Fulvimari in "The English Rose." The illustrations are highly stylized and interesting but they seem targeted more for adults' eyes than children's.

The audience for "Mr. Peabody's Apples," however, is clear: grade-schoolers who need to be reminded that their actions have consequences.

In her introduction, Madonna explains that "Mr. Peabody's Apples" is based on a 300-year-old Ukrainian tale called "The Baad Shem Tov." She says her instructor in Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, first turned her on to the story, which aims to demonstrate the power of words.

But you'd think that a celebrity with Madonna's notoriety - she's been the target of rumors for two decades - wouldn't need a centuries-old story to inspire her to write about the value of truth and the pain that comes with gossip that spreads like wildfire.

It's also worth noting that the baseball fields of middle America were the backdrop for one of Madonna's most critically acclaimed endeavors: the 1992 film "A League of Their Own."

"Mr. Peabody's Apples" is getting an even bigger global launch than "The English Roses"; it will be published Nov. 10 in 36 languages and available in more than 100 countries. Madonna says her profits from the book will be donated to the Spirituality for Kids Foundation. Next up in the star's five-book deal with Callaway Editions is "Yakov and the Seven Thieves," due out in spring 2004.