The Taste of a Strawberry @madeleine_editions #BookReview #BlogTour

I have something a bit different from the usual sorts of books I review on Hair Past A Freckle today. Many thanks to the publishers and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for giving me the opportunity to take part in this tour and for my copy of the story. The Taste of a Strawberry is from Madeleine Editions, a new independent children's publishing house, based in Paris, with participation from artists all over the world. They specialise in high quality, multilingual Tales in Music  - magical eBooks where story, music, and moving pictures come together. Available in English, Chinese, and French editions, they release a new tale every month.  Here's what they have to say about their philosophy;

- multilingual: Tales in Music are available in English, Chinese, and French editions. 3 to 7 is a sensitive age for children to develop an ear for languages and we make stories that nourish the mind, as well as the ears! With a focus on the beauty of the spoken word, we showcase the musicality inherent in every language. Easily accessible to both monolingual and multilingual families. 

- multidisciplinary: Uniting the three languages are the universal language of music and pictures. Award-winning writers, world-renown musicians, up-and-coming illustrator collaborate to make each title an original story experience. The classical music label Deutsche Grammophon participates in some of our titles.  

- multicultural: The theme for our collection for 3~7 year olds is voyage around the world. Each Tale in Music is inspired by a place: Italy, China, Morocco, just to name a few! 

There is a nice story of how it all began here on our website.




The Taste of a Strawberry is a sweet little story about three children in Italy, Impatience, Indulgence and Wisdom who are each given a strawberry plant from their Papa. As their names suggest, each of them has a different attitude to taking care of their plant. Impatience picks hers immediately, Indulgence leaves his until they are mushy then attempts to make a pie but is tempted by all the ingredients on the shelf. Wisdom waits until just the right moment before savouring the taste of one strawberry before making a delicious gelato alla fragola.
The Taste of a Strawberry would be a delightful story to share with younger children. My own children are too old for it now but my ten year old daughter watched it with me and said she would have loved it when she was little.  The simple words appear on the screen so can be read alongside the narrator and there is plenty to talk about at the end; whether that's discussing the meaning of the children's names, the importance of waiting and of savouring the moment or being inspired to grow strawberries or make ice-cream. The vibrant, appealing animation is absolutely charming, the little strawberries have real personality and I loved the creepy crawlies who visit the strawberry patch. The music has been cleverly composed to fit each character but overall has a calming sound making this a lovely story to listen to at bedtime. 




I listened to the English language version of The Taste of a Strawberry but as with all the stories from Madeleine Editions, it's also available in French and Chinese editions which I think is fabulous and if I still had little ones I'm sure we'd listen to them as an introduction to other languages.



If the idea of a delicious strawberry ice-cream has made your mouth water, Wisdom's special recipe can be found here!

The Taste of a Strawberry is available from iBooks now, see here for more details. Don't forget to follow the other steps on the blog tour, details are below.


 About the Authors

Writer Bio
Eva Lou is a Taiwanese-born, American-educated writer who has called Kaohsiung, Hawaii, New York, Seoul and now Paris her home. She has a BA in Comparative Literature from Brown University, and a MFA in Writing from Columbia University. Her short stories and poems have been anthologized in America and France.
Her first collection of short stories, Rapture/d’extases, was published by Editions Lanore in France in a bilingual edition. Her novel-in-progress, The Vocalist, is a finalist of the James Jones First Novel Award in the U.S.. She is the founder of Madeleine Editions. Discover her stories The Taste of a Strawberry, The Little Baby Airplane, Little Travelers, The Princess who Loved Rose.

Illustrator Bio
Steffie Brocoli is a rising star in the illustration scene in Paris. In the few years since she graduated from Ecole Estienne, she has published children’s books with Mango Jeunesse and Actes Sud Junior, among others. Her books have been translated into English, Italian, Korean, and Japanese.
She also draws, paints, and embroiders for all kinds of projects, from wall murals to pop up stores to gallery exhibits. Steffie’s crisp, vibrant style lends a particular brand of chic to The Taste of a Strawberry.

Musician Bio
Yeahwon Shin's musical journey began in the suburbs of Seoul. She studied jazz at the New School in New York City and found herself in Brazilian music. Her debut album featured legendary composer Egberto Gismonti and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards.
Her latest album with ECM, Lua ya, was inspired by new motherhood. For The Taste of a Strawberry, Yeahwon composed miniature melody for each personality, in the spirit of Peter and the Wolf.

You can find Madeleine Editions on Facebook and Instagram

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