Perfect Picture Book Friday/ Madlenka

Hi Friends!!

Welcome back. I always love Fridays. We have Perfect Picture Book Friday and tomorrow is the weekend. I usually unplug for part of it and just read. Seems like I don’t get enough time to just read anymore. My class keeps me busy and so does 12×12.

You know yesterday was Valentine’s Day remember? Well I found out it was International Book Giving Day, too. So I did and will. Give some.  I have several I can donate. I not only want to donate some but give one to my grandson. Here are books I’m giving away. 

Inside the World of Stars Wars Trilogy; this is the one I’m mailing to my grandson

Milk and Honey-A year of Jewish Holidays by Jane Yolen

I need a Lunch Boxby Jeanette Caines

And

Dragonology, the official S.A.S.D. guide by Ernest Drake

And if you’d like to join me, take a look at this web site: http://bookgivingday.com/about-2/

I’m gaga for anything Larry Brooks has to say and his Storyfix blog is one of my favorite. Here is one post that sums up his book on the six core principles of writing. http://storyfix.com/six-core-storytelling-competencies-good-better-best  Hope you enjoy it.

Lisa Jackson, a full time free lancer, is founder and regular contributor to this group writer’s blog. http://nhwn.wordpress.com/ Let’s write to live and live to write. Scroll down this site and you will see the writer’s favorite sites for his writing life. 

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Perfect Picture Book Friday/ Madlenka

Title: Madlenka

Author/Illustrator: Peter Sis

Ages: four to eight

Themes: Father-daughter relationship, neighborhood, city, cultures, multi-cultures, universal experiences, Friends, interconnectedness, Interpersonal relationships, growing up, friendship, firsts, educational, diversity, community, common childhood experiences,

Resources:

http://www.petersis.com/content/madlenka_teachers_guide.html Madlenka can be taught across several curriculum areas, social studies, art, language skills and the children’s imaginations. Kids can use the internet to look up the countries Madlenka’s friends came from.

First Three Sentences: “In the universe, on a planet, on a continent, in a country, in a city, on a block, in a house, in a window, in the rain, a little girl named Madlenka finds her tooth wiggles. She has to tell everyone.”

From the Jacket: “Madlenka lives in New York City. She has lived on the same block, in the same building, in the same apartment since the day she was born. Everyone on the block knows her, and they are all her friends: the French baker, the Indian news vendor, the Italian ice cream man, the German Lady who sits by her window, the Latin American greengrocer, and the Asian shopkeeper. For Madlenka, a trip around the block is like a trip around the e world.

Here is Peter Sis’s New York—a rich and varied block, a neighborhood, a small town in one of the busiest cities in the world.”

Why I love it: When I looked for resources I found other Madlenka books, Madlenka’s Dog, Madlenka Soccer Star, and Madlenka’s Music, all obviously written for and inspired by his children. This one in particular is of course the one where Madeleine lost her first tooth. Her neighborhood is a city block made up of people from all over the world. Sis tells this in spiraling news starting with one page and spreading out across a double spread. He has squares cut out of the pages to show Madlenka in the middle and the world spreading all around her. She is the center of attention in all sense of the word.

And this is the third Sis book in my series. I have found a theme in his books. He loves to draw and write outside the box, outside the illustration and around the page. Like I tried to explain. This book even has a cut out square for Madlenka to be in the center after one turns the page. And on other pages Sis explains the culture of her friends around the main illustration in little spots. I am sure it will fascinate a child to read this book. 

My friend Beth Stillborn says. “Every Friday, bloggers join together to share picture book reviews and resources, thanks to author Susanna Leonard Hill’s brainchild, “Perfect Picture Book Fridays.” Susanna then adds the books (and links to the reviews) to a comprehensive listing by subject on her blog. Find the entire listing at her “Perfect Picture Books.”

Have a Greeaat Weekend!!

Do you think you would like this book? Why?

City Block in Madlenka with Madlenka in the middle

 

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