Although Madison is a former president and played a major role in American history, he is a character with whom many children are unfamiliar. He was an unassuming man, with no desire for the spotlight. This may have been due in part to his physical shortcomings, which Fritz describes in detail. Thin, pale, and sickly, he had a weak voice and suffered from seizures, fevers, and biliousness.
Jean Fritz has drawn a character who is worthy of every child�s admiration into center stage, and although she does not overlook his weaknesses, she shows how he courageously overcame them. Whenever there was a dispute over major issues, Madison usually found himself on the opposite side of great orators like Alexander Hamilton and John Hancock. At great personal cost, he stood his ground. �Soft spoken as he was, he tore into Mr. Hamilton�s plan as if it offended every nerve in his body.� (p. 60) He also refused to take England�s persistent bullying. Although his predecessors didn�t want to anger a superior world power, Madison knew America could never be taken seriously as a nation if it failed to stand up for its rights. He led the country into what many called �Mr. Madison�s War,� which finally earned our new nation the respect of foreign powers.
Ms. Fritz frankly discusses the fact that although Madison abhorred the idea of slavery, he realized he could not maintain the lifestyle he had established at Montpelier without exploiting other humans. Sadly, he was unwilling to pay the price and forego his personal comfort at the expense of others. He probably rationalized this as many others at the time did, who believed that Africans would be incapable of living independently in this country.
The author did meticulous research and adhered to her policy of including only those quotes which were verifiable. She includes explanatory notes, an extensive bibliography, and an alphabetical index. The text is enlivened and clarified with maps and illustrations, which are credited in the back of the book. Chapters are short enough for young readers to finish comfortably in one seating, or for reading aloud.
The narrative is marked by a comfortable, conversational style that children will find engaging. The story is filled with little-known facts and details that appeal to children. Her descriptions of Madison have imagery that creates vivid mental pictures: � . . . he didn�t present much of a figure � this small man with a habit of rocking back and forth on his feet as he warmed to his subject. The delegates might smile. �No bigger than half a piece of soap,� one observed.� (p. 24) While much attention is paid to Madison as a public figure, Fritz does not ignore his private life. She includes details of his personal friendship, his disappointing first love, and his colorful wife, Dolley Madison.
Booklist compare Fritz�s biography of Madison with another by J. Perry Leavell. �In contrast to J. Perry Leavell's straightforward portrayal in James Madison [BKL Jl 88], Fritz injects a wit and candor that capture the sense of chaos that pervaded the halls of the Constitutional Convention: 'His whole soul, all his passion, all his will were centered in this hot room in Philadelphia where the flies buzzed and the future of the country lay in the hands of fifty-five unpredictable men.'" (October 1, 1989) This first recipient of the Orbis Pictus Award (1990) is a worthy portrait of a truly great man.
Awards for The Great Little Madison
NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
Boston Globe-Hornbook Awards
Source
Books in Print [database online]. Available from http://www.booksinprint.com. Accessed 25 January 05.
Related Sites
James Madison�s Montpelier
James Madison
Dolley Madison
Jean Fritz
School of Library and Information Studies
TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY