Madam Hortensia

by Carmen Gil Martinez, Miguel Cerro (Illustrator)

Madam Hortensia lives life in a straight line, never straying a step out of her daily routine.  Was she finicky? Not quite, she just liked everything to be perfectly to her liking. Her alarm clock rang every day at 07:18 sharp. Not one minute before, or one minute after. Then her planned routine would begin in extreme detail, and nothing could possibly go wrong. But one morning, her alarm does not go off on time and her life spins into a whirlwind. Suddenly, she finds herself doing entirely new things she has never tried before. With wit and charm, this delightful tale shares what happens when we learn to embrace change and open our minds to possibility.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my 365 Kids Book challenge. You can see all the books on their own shelf.

During the closed-to-the-public part of the pandemic, my library rearranged things to very good effect. One change was to put international picture books up front. So my new circuit takes me there first and I always see something cool-looking by a new-to-me creator, and I check out translated copies because my reading in other languages is sadly deficient.

This awesome cover grabbed me. The art is tremendously appealing to me for reasons I can’t articulate, and I appreciated the story about the unanticipated delights of changing things up. I’ll be looking for more by both parts of the team.

I had to take off a star, though because does no one understand how the moon works? That it isn’t some sort of sun counterweight? “Moonrise” would not make a good, consistent bed time. Not even if Madam lives on the equator, which is the only place where sunrise is a consistent time throughout the year.

Library copy

[Regina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book!

[Marisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was printed on stone paper and I can’t get enough of it!! What a wonderful, sustainable paper option - it just feels so different and…satisfying flipping through the pages.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars
Madam Hortensia lives her life by a rigid schedule but discovers that things can be beautiful without the same schedule.