Madelia

Children's Literature - Leila Toledo

Madelia is a budding artist. When she receives six new jars of watercolors from her Aunt Jessie, she wants so much to try them out right away. But she has to go to church first. As she slides down in her seat she pays no attention to what her father is preaching. But as her father preaches and sways to the beat of the music, he captures Madelia's attention. As I read, I found myself swaying and reaching out to the colors and the beat of the movement. This is a story that can pick you up and whirl you around in the rainbow of colors.

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3--Those who can make the leap past the "that's-not-how-we-do-it-at-my-church" mentality will have a rare opportunity to enjoy the spiritual awakening of an artistic little girl who would rather stay home and paint than go to church. Set primarily during the service led by Madelia's minister-father, the story is rich with song, call-and-response prayer, and visions not common in many of the more sedate forms of worship. There aren't any white faces in the richly colorful gouache paintings highlighted with pastels but there probably weren't any or many in the church of Gilchrist's youth, which inspired this book. The read-aloud potential is excellent for the right readers in this fine tribute to church and family. Adults uncomfortable with the poetic cadence of parts of the text should leave the book to be enjoyed by children who can read it on their own. The charismatic blend of text and illustration have much to offer; Madelia is a vision, a testimony, a joy to behold.--Jody McCoy, Lakehill Preparatory School, Dallas, TX

Kirkus Reviews

It's Sunday and her father is the reverend, so there is no doubt where Madelia is headed that morning, but what she'd like to do is stay home with her new jars of paint. Impatiently she sits in her pew, willing the service to end, when her father turns his vibrant, rhythmic oration on her. "There is a place . . . a place" her father sings out, "where the colors are bright . . . yes, bright as the light that forms them in that rainbow . . . yeah . . . where grows a tree . . . a majestic tree . . . a tree which spreads her branches through the universe." Madelia is no longer inattentive, but rapt in her father's performance and vision. She has an out-of-body experience where she rides a heavenly chariot pulled by horses of many colors. It is a beautiful gift her father has given her, and Madelia knows just what to do with it: break out those new colors and let the painting begin. Gilchrist's story has more to do with the power of oratory than with religious visions, but the incantatory passages in print—already difficult for readers—can't compete with the potency of a real speaker. The gouache and pastel illustrations, with their fresh springtime colors, capture the beat of the text and persuade onlookers as to the wonder of the event.