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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Madonna children's book goes on sale worldwide

US rock star Madonna was in Paris Monday for the worldwide launch of her children's book "The English Roses," which is going on sale in 100 countries and more than 30 languages.


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US rock star Madonna was in Paris Monday for the worldwide launch of her children's book "The English Roses," which is going on sale in 100 countries and more than 30 languages.

She was scheduled to attend an early evening press conference and function at her French publishers, Gallimard. A crowd of well-wishers gathered to see her leaving the Ritz hotel in the city center.

On Saturday the singer gave an invitations-only reading of the book at her exclusive London home before family and friends including Stella McCartney.

But she gave little away of the plot, saying: "If you want to know what else happens to Binah (the central character) and the English Roses, you're just going to have to read the book."

The singer, who is 45, has said she conceived "The English Roses" as the first of five children's books inspired by the Kabbalah, the system of Jewish mystical thought which she has been studying for seven years.

Her daughter Lourdes, who is seven, was the inspiration for Binah, she told The Times Magazine in an interview.

"Often children can be quite mean and ostracize her because I'm her mother," she said of pupils at Lourdes' London school. "Everyone thinks, 'She's got everything so we won't pay attention to her'."

"The English Roses" is about a gang of girls who ostracize the heroine from the group because they are jealous.

In an attempt to even outdo the publishing blitz surrounding the "Harry Potter" series, "The English Roses" is enjoying a multinational launch, with first print runs ranging from 750,000 copies in the United States to 1,000 in the Faroe Islands.

The multi-lingual, simultaneous release has been made possible by advances in digital technology, allowing printers to switch rapidly from one language to another.

"Thanks to this global network of publishing partners that have joined together, we will have a new generation throughout the world that will know Madonna as an inspiring storyteller," Nicholas Callaway, president of lead publisher Callaway Editions Inc., said in a statement released earlier this month.



Source: Agencies




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