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Madame Lagrande and Her So High, to the Sky, Uproarious Pompadour
Pompadours have become the rage in Paris, and Madame LaGrande wants to get one in time for the upcoming opera season. But since neither she nor her stylist know when to say "Enough!", her outrageous coif winds up housing two pigeons, three cats, four dogs, and the King--all without Madame L. knowing it! In the grand tradition of The Emperor's New Clothes , this uproarious story of exaggerated vanity will have kids laughing so hard it will curl their hair!
1 pages, Hardcover
First published June 11, 1996
2 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Candace Fleming
71 books640 followersI have always been a storyteller. Even before I could write my name, I could tell a good tale. And I told them all the time. As a preschooler, I told my neighbors all about my three-legged cat named Spot. In kindergarten, I told my classmates about the ghost that lived in my attic. And in first grade I told my teacher, Miss Harbart, all about my family's trip to Paris, France.
I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn't stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They're precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on.
In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Miss Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mache pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again, tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting, "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words—to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful, and yet told a story.
As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college where I discovered yet another passion—history. I didn't realize it then, but studying history is really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones — tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened.
After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that's when I discovered the joy and music of children's books. I simply couldn't get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children's books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved: stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn't wait to get started.
But writing children's books is harder than it looks. For three years I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn't give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children's author had begun.
I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn't stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They're precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on.
In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Miss Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mache pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again, tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting, "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words—to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful, and yet told a story.
As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college where I discovered yet another passion—history. I didn't realize it then, but studying history is really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones — tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened.
After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that's when I discovered the joy and music of children's books. I simply couldn't get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children's books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved: stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn't wait to get started.
But writing children's books is harder than it looks. For three years I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn't give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children's author had begun.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 11, 2019
Some folks will do anything to be fashionable. This is the tale of one woman's vanity project, and how it becomes the center of attention when she attends the opera. S. D. Schindler's artwork really makes the story here.
August 22, 2017
The illustrations are very detailed and as you read makes you change the position of the book. It gives more vocabulary you can talk about with students and sweet little story.
February 22, 2019
This was a book about a silly woman trying to make a fashion statement, but didn't quite make it with a pompadour-- cats, dog and a king in her hair.
May 27, 2019
This story is just right up my alley! It's European, it has fashion, humor, cumulative in nature and amazing art and even a plot, although a silly one :)
June 5, 2012
Madame LaGrande strives to be the most fashionable lady in Paris, but when her hairdresser creates a spectacular pompadour for her, the results are disastrous.
Subjects
Hair -- Fiction.
Humorous stories
Paris (France) -- Fiction
This would be a good read a loud for elementary school students.
Subjects
Hair -- Fiction.
Humorous stories
Paris (France) -- Fiction
This would be a good read a loud for elementary school students.
April 11, 2013
This book is about a wealth old Paris Madame and her constant desire to keep up with the days fashion. This book would be great for younger students who are developing their simple math counting skills, because they can count the number of things that begin getting compiled in this wild old woman's hair. This story was very funny and entertaining.
February 25, 2013
Madame LaGrande is madly in love with her fashionable new hairstyle-- a pompadour that is so tall that she cannot stand upright in a normal room or ride in her carriage. But her big hair creates havoc with pigeons, cats, dogs, and ultimately, the king himself!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews