This book is about a time when the girls and Miss Clavel set out from Paris to go to Rome when the sky is gloomy. When Miss Clavel is trying to take a picture of the twelve little girls, a thief comes and snatches her camera and sprints away. Madeline, deciding to be a hero, runs after the girl, but lost her in the end. Suddenly, a cat is rubbing against her leg and of course Genevieve (the dog) does not appreciate this feline invasion, so she chases her off. Madeline follows Genevieve into an abandoned house where Madeline discovers several cats living there. The thief appears out of the dark and states that she is steals just to help the cats. After Madeline pulls the guilt card, the thief returns the camera. Madeline and the thief later end up in jail and Madeline finds out the thief is no orphan and has a family who is looking for her. Once the story is explained, the two girls work together to adopt the cats out to the travelers in Rome. Every cat goes to a great home!
This book emphasizes so many various lessons and tidbits of information. Initially, the author introduces the sights of Rome, including the Sistine Chapel and includes images of the Parthenon and other sights. These images are hardly shown in children’s picture books, so any opportunities to immerse students in these sights are great. Also, when Madeline confronts the thief, she says, “While I applaud your charity, Let me say this with clarity: STEALING IS WRONG- no matter the cause. You may not like it, but those are the laws.” This lesson is so important to stress to children at an early age and in a context that they can understand what stealing is. This also shows that stealing doesn’t have to happen in a store or just be money to be wrong. Stealing happens all the time, everywhere, to all different types of people and students shouldn’t be shielded form this fact, so that is a great point made.
Also, when the girls are all trying to adopt the cats out, the idea of charity is stressed. They didn’t have to go back to help the cats, but insisted on providing them with good homes to live in. They took it upon themselves to be good Samaritans and this is a lesson students should learn. It could inspire them to volunteer or give up things they no longer need for less fortunate people. While the girls are adopting the cats out, there is also a sign in three different languages, which shows that they are in a foreign place and it juxtaposes the words “CATS TO ADOPT” in English, French, and Italian. This introduces (though very slightly) some foreign language, which young children cannot have too much of. On the page next to it, there are people taking the cats home from all over the world, with typical dress and appearance for those countries, which is also a good thing for children to take note of. There is so much to get out of this book that is cultural and it is humorous at the same time.
I have always loved the Madeline stories. I am glad to see you did a book in this series. I feel that it is on the decline and is not as popular when we were kids. It would be a great one for the classroom as an independent or group read!
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