Customer Reviews

Madlenka

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

 

 

Madlenka lives in New York City and one day finds that her tooth wiggles. It is loose and she has to show and tell everyone she knows. So she travels around her city block, showing all her friends...Mr Gaston, the French baker, who has told her all about Paris as he bakes; Mr Singh, the news vendor from India, who has told her about elephants; Mr Ciao, the Italian ice-cream man, who has told her all about Italy and spaghetti and Mrs Grimm, Mr Eduardo, her school friend, Cleopatra and Mrs Kham...When Madlenka's mother asks her where she has been, she thinks and replies "Well...I went around the world." And lucky us, we got to go too! Peter Sis' charming, gentle text is only outdone by his very special, expressive artwork. As Madlenka talks with each friend, we look through a cut-out window on the page, for a glimpse of their country, then turn the page for a more expansive view. You and your children will be entranced, time and again, with the details of each picture. A MUST for all home libraries, Madlenka will delight and amuse youngsters of all ages, as they travel the world.

This was a gift from our literate Tooth Fairy, and has been a big bedtime-story hit. Wiggly-toothed Madlenka is so excited that she runs around her neighborhood, showing neighbors and vendors from many different countries the new gap in her smile. The illustrations are stunning, and the idea of traveling around the world in a single city block (especially by "jumping" through cut-out windows into different countries) really mesmerized my daughter. Be prepared for a lot of discussion of how the pictures' details represent different countries (Roman cats, German Valkyries, Mayan jungle temples) and for circling the book around to read the wraparound captions on some of the illustrations. A winner.

To read many of the reviews, you might think this was a lengthy volume of work, in order for it to "take us around the world". It does it's job in as few words as possible, and can be read easily to young children or savored. A child in my preschool class recently shared this book and I am now ordering it as a "must have" for my classroom. Particularly required if you live in or near New York City.

With "Madlenka," Sis finally finds a balance between his more elaborate and complex work (his books "Tibet Through the Red Box" and "The Three Golden Keys" were actually fine art books better appreciated by adults than by children) and his accessible children's stories ("Rainbow Rhino," "Fire Truck"). What we get is a book that is visually ornate, but which carries with it a concept simple enough to catch the fancy of a young audience. I've been waiting for this one.

How can a tooth bring you the whole world? How do you look at your neigorhood? How do you treat the trivia in the life?

I was firstly astonished at Sis' exquisite lines. My art teacher told me that this is a Zen's work (under a condition of entering into the deepest, stillest condition of self). You'll see the globe, then gradually shrink your focus to the continent, the city, and neiborhood, the building, ... After we find Madlenka with a shaking tooth, she will bring us to the whole world.

Two of kids' most exciting themes -- loose teeth and international travel! -- are delightfully captured in this sophisticated book by Peter Sis. Madlenka's tooth sends her on a journey through her multi-cultural neighbourhood, visiting shopkeeper friends from Asia, France, Latin America, and beyond.

Though the thrill of the loose tooth seems to disappear into the background somewhat through all her marvellous adventures, it comes back with a bang in the terrific "surprise" ending. This book perplexed my kids (5 and 6) somewhat initially; they were expecting a story about the tooth. But they enjoyed the easy-going, "world beat" plot tremendously nevertheless, particularly the detailed illustrations of the shopkeepers' home cultures, delightfully woven around the facing pages.

I'd highly recommended this book for urban families or anyone who wants their kids to know we're not alone on this big crowded planet.

Since opinions abound here on Amazon, I shall give my own on this item that I purchased directly through Amazon due to the rave reviews.

A six year old boy whom I know well, calls Madlenka "The Blue Book" since the illistrations seem to hover around the blue/grey spectrum, and that is what stands out in his head... not the story so much as the monotone of the illustrations.

The absolute excitement of a loose tooth is not lost on children, and Madlenka's travels are indeed fanciful and fun. This is an interesting and insightful book that will most likely appeal more to the adults who read it than to the children who are lucky enough to have adults who read to them.

Whether it be for children or adults, Madlenka has sent us a message that everyone has something to offer. Everyone will fall in love with little Madlenka who looks at the world through innocent eyes. Although the story is centered around a child who has a loose tooth, the real story is about the richness of all the people in her neighborhood. As Madlenka journeys through her neighborhood, the reader journeys from Italy to Latin America. Peter Sis' illustrations are marvelous in that they add background information that the text does not provide. Although the illustrations have almost too much information embedded in them, the story still falls into place. In addition, Peter Sis does a remarkable job of illustrating a child's world from a spot on the planet to a spot in a city to Madlenka standing in her neighborhood. Excluding the text within the illustrations, the vocabulary and text size are appropriate for the intended age level. When deciding whether to share this book with children, the decision should be simple if you are considerate of what they have to offer.

My pre-school aged daughters were big fans of the Madlenka shorts on Sesame Street, so I bought them this book which they love equally as much. It's a story about a little girl living in New York City who takes a trip around her city block to tell her neighbors and friends about her loose tooth. Being the big city, there is a multi-ethnic mix of people like the baker who is French, the Indian newspaper vendor and the Latino grocer, etc. With each neighbor Madlenka encounters we all get a glimpse into their countries of origin through their stories and more importantly Peter Sis's impressive illustrations. Through die-cut views through windows that open up into larger, beautiful scenes. My daughters like the way the words in the story curl around the pages and the cute blonde Madlenka in her lavender boots with whom they can identify. It's really a treat for me to show my suburban kids that there is an exciting international life going on in the city and to be able to introduce them to different cultures. The whole idea that this great big world can be broken down into a small city block with so much diversity is fabulous - especially when it's in a book sized just right for bedtime read.

Great book. Especially for beginning readers. Different layout. Will get children's attention.