The House of Madame M
ISBN13
9781776572748
Review published
16/01/2020
By Reviewer
Nikki
Star Rating
By Author / Illustrator
Clotilde Perrin
Age range(s)
5+
Review
Wow! I have had the pleasure of reading a second book written and illustrated by the fantastic Clotilde Perrin. The House of Madam M oozes the same eccentric charm and quirkiness as her previous release 'Inside the Villains'. It's large format, lift the flap pages and intricate attention to detail make it stand out from the rest. In The House of Madame M, we explore a strange house, full of weird and wonderful surprises. Lurking in every corner of every page there is something new to find, hidden away in this dark delight. The story begins with 'us' the reader, being ushered in from the cold outside by a peculiar human bird like creature. "Are you lost? Please come in. Lucky for you, there's no one here just now. Shhh! Be as quiet as you can, and very, very careful." We are led to explore the house in all its glory. The living room, the kitchen, the bathroom and the bedroom too. Each room in the house is a double page spread full of pop ups, pull outs and playful interactions. My favourite is the ghoulish bathroom with its pull-out bones from the sink, lift the lid toilet seat and sorrowful blob rising out of the bath. I love the build-up in the text of this story, readers are kept on tenterhooks, wondering and eager to find out who lives in a mysterious house like this. A brilliant read for all ages. This is a treat for classrooms to get them excited about books again and how fresh and innovative they can be. Children will enjoy going on a tour and making predictions as to who the creepy characters are loitering in the shadows of every page. It would be fun for children to create their own scary characters like the ones found in The House of Madam M and for children in Key stage 2 to use this book as a hook to look at building suspense in their writing. Now one of my favourite authors, I look forward to see what Perrin does next. 10 pages / Ages 5-9 / Reviewed by Nikki Styles, teacher
