A Taste of a Strawberry - Madeleine Edition- iBook review and #Giveaway

The Taste of a Strawberry is an iBook which uses words, pictures and sounds to create a moving picture book experience for the under-7's. Today I am offering you the chance to win your own iBook copy- details on how to enter this Giveaway are at the foot of this post. 

First, here's all about Madeleine Editions: 

Madeleine Editions is an indie children’s publishing house based in Paris with participation from artists all over the world.

  

We specialize in high quality, multilingual Tales in Music – magical eBooks where story, music, and moving pictures come together. Available in English, Chinese, and French editions, we release a new tale every month. You can learn more about us at madeleineeditions.com 

Our contributors include award winning writers from Harvard and Columbia, the classical music label Deutsche Grammophon, world-renown maestro and composers, plus the newest generation of illustrators from Paris … All at the service of our littlest readers, in an easily accessible and affordable digital format via iBooks.  

The idea of 7 and under being a “sensitive” age for languages has been confirmed in many studies. Madeleine Editions makes it easy for parents to expose children to the musicality inherent in each language during this crucial age, even if they don’t speak it themselves.  

In addition to our talented artists, we have consulted Montessori, Reggio Emilia, “conventional” school teachers, tested the stories in both bilingual classrooms and monolingual households. One thing was clear: children have an ear for music, and will naturally pay more attention to lines that sound “right” to their ears. (Our biggest surprise was that French children got such a kick out of the Chinese edition, and they wanted to listen/watch it again and again!) 

With an inspired collaboration between writers, illustrators, musicians, and a focus on the beauty of the spoken word, Madeleine Editions create a quality listening and reading experience for our littlest audience and the grown ups around them! 

 Our 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 https://madeleineeditions.com/how-it-began/
You can find us on Facebook at

https://facebook.com/madeleineeditions

And also on Instagram at

https://instagram.com/madeleine_editions

Link to The Taste of a Strawberry page

https://madeleineeditions.com/stories/the-taste-of-a-strawberry/

Link to The Little Travellers page

https://madeleineeditions.com/stories/little-travelers/

Samples of the books can also be downloaded on the iBooks store. 

Here's a link to the recipe for Gelato : Gelato 

My Thoughts 

 I had a lovely time sharing this iBook with a five year old who seemed to enjoy it very much and who said he liked both the pictures and the music. It certainly felt like a very calming session. It gave opportunities for discussion, such as the meaning of the word 'Indulgence' and the subject of gathering strawberries or watching them grow was one which he could relate to, having done just that earlier in the Summer. 

There is some text on the page but not a great deal and I liked the symmetry of the story. As it uses music, pictures, the printed and spoken word, it has a multi-sensory aspect which will appeal to all types of learners- those with visual, auditory or kinaesthetic preferred styles. 

Cat and Mouse say: A refreshingly different approach to a story.

 

Thanks to Madeleine Editions and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for a copy of the book and a place on the tour. 

Check out the rest of the tour.

Giveaway (International)

To win a promocode for a copy of the iBook of A Taste of Strawberry, just Follow and Retweet the pinned Tweet at @bookslifethings. Closing date is 20th August 2018 and there is one winner. Good luck!