What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this book deals with subjects like
conformity and competition among preadolescent girls. While
these issues are of real concern to tweens, there's no
meaningful self-reflection or growth among the story's
characters. The girls start off in a clique of four and end up
in a clique of five, with no insight about the inherent
problems of conformity and exclusive social groups.
Families can talk about how kids can deal with similar social situations in real life. Do you ever hear friends say mean things about other classmates? Have you ever stuck up for classmates who get picked on for being different? Why or why not?
Common Sense Media Review
Well-known entertainer
Madonna
makes her debut as a children's book author with a series of
five books, each based on a different set of emotions and each
with pictures by a different illustrator. Now a mother of two
herself, Madonna says that she was inspired by her Kabbalah
teacher to share with children some of the insights that she
has gained in her Kabbalah work.
While Madonna's intentions may be high-minded, this first book in the series is less than successful. Although THE ENGLISH ROSES is packaged to look like a picture book for younger children, the subjects and content are more appropriate for upper-elementary-school age children, and there's a glitzy, Barbie-doll quality to both story and illustrations.
As illustrated by fashion designer Jeffrey Fulvimari, the characters are wide-eyed, skinny, and fashionably dressed. They slouch and pose like little fashion models, and in many ways the four girls epitomize a privileged, narrow-minded style and sensibility. They reject Binah initially because they're insecure; her beauty and wide-ranging accomplishments make them feel even worse about themselves. But in the end, when out of pity they invite Binah to join them, the four girls are rather self-servingly delighted to find that the praise that had been lavished on the exemplary Binah alone is then showered on them all.
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