"Madeline and the Cats of Rome"

AUTHOR: John Bemelmans Marciano
PICTURES BY: John Bemelmans Marciano
PUBLISHER: Viking DATE: 2008
TOTAL PAGES: 38 CHAPTERS: No
TO BE READ BY CHILD? Yes, ages 5 - 7
ILLUSTRATIONS: In Madeline and the Cats of Rome, illustrator Marciano depicts the city of Rome with the most charming of images as he uses a grand assortment of vibrant and vivid spring colors. The gouache and watercolor representations of the more famous monuments of Rome are quite captivating. Though never using excessive detail, Marciano uses just enough to content the reader and allow them to see exactly where the girls are within the city. Additionally, the way Marciano transitions the story with the girls going from cold, snowy Paris, represented in muted yellow tones, to the ancient city of Rome, so full of warm and animated colors, simply makes the reader want to dive straight into the pages and go exploring with the girls. Going from their first stop near Saint Peter’s Basilica, then onto the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon, and the ancient Roman ruins, one cannot help but be engrossed by the wonder and excitement which dwells within this richly artistic city. The Roman life and culture he captures in these pages is truly remarkable and deserving of much recognition.
SUMMARY: The story begins with Miss. Clavel, the head schoolteacher, and the Parisian, orphanage girls traveling from snowy Paris to sunny Rome. Once the girls settle in their hotel, they begin touring the city, seeing many of the glorious monuments and churches Rome has to offer. However, when Miss. Clavel wishes to take a picture of the girls, a little thief comes and steals her camera! Angry Madeline leaves the others behind as she begins her quest to find the guilty culprit. Madeline chases the girl, but upon losing her, notices a cat coming over to her. Her dog, Genevieve, chases the cat into an abandoned house filled with other stray Roman cats. Among them, Madeline discovers the camera thief, Caterina, who goes on to justify herself for stealing, since she claims she is an orphan and needs the camera to feed the cats and herself. Madeline reprimands her for her bad actions and tells her stealing is never right. Later, Madeline and Caterina are arrested for robbing (though Madeline is innocent) and head for to the police station where they find Miss. Clavel and Caterina’s parents there looking for them. In the end, Madeline tells Caterina how wrong she is to lie and steal, but helps her sell the abandoned cats whom she does not want to desert. The two girls reconcile and they both go home to live happily ever after.
COMMENTS: This is a most colorful, entertaining and moralistic cultural children’s story. The approach Marciano takes in incorporating culture into this book while also using it to teach children a lesson on lying and stealing is ingenious. He encourages virtue as he delights his audience as the story unfolds, thus making this moral story both fun and meaningful. Marciano’s tactic of showing the culture of Rome throughout the book without necessarily focusing upon the culture directly is what some may call an immersion approach to culture in children’s literature; it exposes the child to what the city has to offer and what some of its cultural aspects consist of through mere observation. The book also rightly emphasizes both the good and the bad characteristics of the city. Rome does indeed have a serious problem with thievery, but Marciano creatively uses this as a springboard to educate children on the ethics of such bad behavior. Thus, between the portrayal of the Roman culture, the endearing characters, and the morals encouraged, this book can indeed be labeled a high-quality cultural children’s storybook which should not be overlooked.