Madame Butterfly: The Story of the Opera by Giacomo Puccini [Hardcover]

J. Alison James (Adapter), Giacomo Puccini (Author), Renata Fucikova (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Puccini's Madame Butterfly is the heartbreaking story of Cho-Cho-San, a beautiful, fragile Japanese Geisha, whose trust and fidelity are betrayed by her husband, an American Navy Lieutenant. Stationed in Nagasaki, Lieutenant Pinkerton acquires his wife as casually as his house — both leased for 99 years, with the option to cancel at any time. After their honeymoon, Pinkerton departs, promising to return. But for three long years, Cho-Cho-San awaits, and when he finally does return, he brings his new American wife — and finds he has a son by Cho-Cho-San. This picture book adaptation of the tragic libretto features haunting paintings that evoke the opera's exotic setting and emotional resonance, creating a captivating, cultured introduction for young readers.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5 Up–A picture book with a text adapted straight from the libretto of Puccinis opera. The illustrations are exotic representations of static scenes in a lovely palette of golden earth tones enriched with rusty red, clear white, and definitive black. For readers new to the world of opera, this would be a good introduction to the world of Cho-Cho-san and her tragic love affair. However, the stilted language might prove an obstacle. Another difficulty might lie in explaining the heroines suicide while in the same room with her young son (though Cho-Cho-san retires behind a discreet screen for the actual moment), especially to those not familiar with the bravura gestures of grand opera. The book is eye-catching, pleasing to opera buffs, and a faithful introduction to those about to attend their first performance. But, oh! It sadly lacks those soaring arias.–Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. Though J. Alison James' retelling of Puccini's tragic opera is presented as a picture book, the story's uncomfortable themes of racism and sexism, and plot elements that include wife-buying, infidelity, and suicide, are hardly appropriate for young children. But older readers, and even some adults, will find this Taiwanese import a convenient, visually splendid way to prepare for seeing the opera or one of its spin-offs (like Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Miss Saigon). James' fidelity to the original results in dense paragraphs full of digressions (exquisite arias seem like non sequiturs when they are forced into a traditional narrative) and lays bare troubling elements of the story, such as playboy Pinkerton's dismissive attitude toward women ("All women are the same when they talk. Such foolishness"), without offering young readers any critical perspective on the opera's cultural milieu. Suggest this alongside other materials about the opera, but do suggest it: Fu?ikova's delicate, intelligent artwork captures the soul of the opera, evoking turn-of-the-century Nagasaki in large, elaborate paintings modeled on Japanese woodblock prints. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Purple Bear Books (September 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933327049
• ISBN-13: 978-1933327044
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,092,303 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars kendall reader, June 2, 2011

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Kendall Reader "Read-A-Lot" (East Kendall, FL, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Madame Butterfly: The Story of the Opera by Giacomo Puccini (Hardcover)

Overall excellent writing, very appropriately told for the age group (8-12) intended. To capture a child's imagination, wish more color had been used in the exquisite drawings.