Customer Reviews

The English Roses, Too Good to be True

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The English Roses, Nicole, Amy, Charlotte, Grace, and Binda are in fifth grade (their "meeting" story is told in the first book on the English Roses). Their teacher, Miss Fluffernutter (she is "beautiful on the inside"), welcomes them , and a new student, Dominic de la Guardia... and the girls think he is TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE (TGTBT). They are miffed when Dominic seems to pay more attention to Binda than the rest of them. Of course, they learn friendship shouldn't be so shallow. Miss Fluffernutter suggests "The next time you start to feel jealous of someone, try to feel happy for them instead" (p. 52).

I am always irked by children's stories that have girls focus their goals on winning over a boy. You know this is a common theme in stories for teenagers. Does it have to happen for younger kids as well? Fifth grade?

BUT, I have to admit, surrounded by the lovely illustrations of Stacy Peterson, the story is smooth and entertaining. It is a beautiful book, and I don't want to make the story sound terrible. Madonna put together a nice tale of friendship that is tested and found to be true... as in TGTBT!

I would like to - again - kindly ask everyone here to review the book, not the author!

I am amazed by people (I am specifically referring to two "reviews" of this book) who are willing to waste part of the precious little time they are given on this planet (and, at the same time, waste MY time as well!) by ranting about a woman they do not know and condemning her for reasons that sound an awful lot like just plain fear and hatred of women, especially those who do not conform to what they deem appropriate for women.

Maybe some of us should stop obsessing about Madonna, leave the woman alone and get on with our own lives, maybe even do something productive, instead of wasting people's time with ramblings, venom and hatred.

When read customer reviews, I care about the product I am thinking about purchasing and not about somebody's personal feelings about Madonna.

I have read this book as well as "The English Roses" and "Mr. Peabody's Apples" and found them to be beautiful stories teaching children something useful while at the same time being fun to read - even for the adult reading them to the child!

There isn't much more important to an aspiring reader but to hear a book they love! My 6 year old loved this book. The illustrations are tgtbt! The writing style isn't my favorite, and the story about girls fighting over a boy seems too old for her age, but my daughter seemed to think it was entirely perfect.

In fact, she wants to get it for her friend as a birthday gift instead of the Bratz doll she had picked out. If a book wins out over a bratz doll, then it must be a good book:)

The illustrations are beautiful, and the story is great too. I recommend the chapter books about the English Roses too.

Out of all the children's books Madonna has written, this was my LEAST favorite. However - just like the rest of her books the illustrations are beautiful and the story teaches a lesson.

Just as good as the first one.

New Kid in Town (... I think his name was Donovan ...) he lives near the airport (... La Guardia ... get it?) - is turning all the girls heads - Never in the history of the planet... (... on all 6 (7?) continents ...) has so much angst been shared amongst a bunch of 5th (6th?) grade girls - until M(r)s. Fluffer-nutter comes up with a devious plan - (... some have called it religion ...) - this is the tale of three (4?) brothers - the elder (8th grader?) has a wand..., ...the second (7th grader?) a stone, ... the third (6th grader?) - virtually invisible -- will he-who-has-no-nose beat it? -- ... it's a thriller ...

Either I am having a "that time of the month moment" or I am just an emotional person but this video did make me cry. We saw a different side of Madonna. I saw from her true sincerity since no one in Malawi knows MADONNA: POP ICON/QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE. Once you travel to a third world nation either in Africa, Asia (as I have) the word "culture shock" does not prepare you. It's the commitment you make while you are there and the therapy you NEED to seek when you return to a developed nation in Europe, North America or South America. I have a new respect for Madonna. I hope this documentary though when it comes out is NOT all about her mission but the plight of the Malawians!

Anyone remember when she deep throated that bottle in her documentary? Yeah, I remember thinking, "Someday I hope to buy a childrens' book from her." And yeah, the book is as uninspiring as her others.

Well, I finally purchased something at amazon, and now I too can write a review. I note the warning to "focus your comments on the product." Which is, I admit, a fair request, but with this series of books (this one being the newest), the review must include things other than the product itself.

These books are vanity projects. No publisher which respects the special significance of a children's book should allow this monster, Madonna, anywhere near such things. The reviews for the other books in this series tend to be comprised of two camps: Madonna's feckless fans, ecstatic over the release of any new "product," and the small percentage of the population which encounters the books by accident, with the latter category almost unanimous in their condemnation of these "works."

Madonna is a person who happened to be in the right place at the right time, and had enough sense to decide to exploit herself to make a dollar over the last twenty years. And, because she was a willing participant, that makes her a genius to some of you. Not to me.

Outside of her catchy pop songs, which even I enjoy for the fluff they are, Madonna has made the bones of her career out of a ceaseless parade of cheap stunts, almost always involving sex. Her body of work which has made her a celebrity has almost nothing to do with music, and everything to do with reckless and clumsy titillation. The last three times Madonna caught our attention, she was pouring hot candle wax on a man's genitals in the terrible film Body of Evidence, hanging naked from chains in an S&M club in her Sex book, and hanging from a mirrored disco cross while wearing a crown of thorns to open her most recent tour.

The reason why she is producing these books is not to improve the quality of children's material, nor is it to raise money for charity, as she is already so wealthy it matters not if she receives so much as one penny from these sales. If she wants to donate to charity, she can always sell one of her castles.

The reason she is doing this is to shovel her sick, twisted view of life straight down the throats of the most impressionable members of society. The books exist to introduce children to her name, so that they may remember her, and then go on to discover her life's work, which is nothing but greed, self-exploitation, and depravity.

The books themselves provide Madonna with the thrill of being famous and talked about, which is worth more to her than money, as she already has plenty of money. The books are not good. It is well understood that if a non-celebrity were to submit these projects, they would be rejected. However, due to her name, they will sell. Madonna then takes that as some kind of indication that her work has triumphed, as you can tell, as the self-serving introduction to this newest book indicates.

I could go on, at length, but briefly: Madonna moralizes, but she had her daughter, Lourdes, sired from a brief encounter with a man she admits she no longer has anything to do with. She points the finger over money, but is herself a supremely wealthy person who lives a lavish, materialistic lifestyle. She preaches humility, yet contrary to the tradition of children's books, she denies credit on the books' covers to the artists who illustrate them.

You could not ask for a more repulsive and hypocritical role model. She is a [...] actress who sings, and is the last among us who should be writing children's books. If you have not gone mad, I would suggest that you purchase any one of the many, many wonderful children's books available, or take the time to play with your child and write one together just for fun.

Do not, under any circumstances, buy these books, unless it is for a gag gift, and only then, do so only if you can be guaranteed it will be burned to ashes in less than an hour after the joke is over, lest the damn things find their way into a library or a school.

To reiterate: These books are vanity projects and garbage, meant to indoctrinate children into Madonna's wretched life philosophy. Avoid every one of them, and when you get the chance, do us all a favour, and destroy them.