American entertainer Madonna has written eleven coffee table books, eleven articles in different publications and contributed a piece in a biography. She has also ventured into children's literature, writing seven picture books and twelve chapter books. Three of her books have topped The New York Times Best Seller list.
Her first release as an author was the coffee table book Sex (1992), published under her company Maverick. It consisted of sexually provocative and explicit images, photographed by Steven Meisel. The book received negative reaction from the media and the general public, but sold 1.5 million copies at $50 each in a matter of days. Madonna continued releasing coffee table photography books, including those associated with her concert tours like Madonna: The Girlie Show (1995), Madonna Confessions (2006) and Madonna: Sticky & Sweet (2009). She also wrote forewords for a number of books, including Alan Parker's coffee table book about the making of the film Evita (1996) and wrote a chapter for The Emperor's New Clothes: An All-Star Retelling of the Classic Fairy Tale (1998). Madonna has also written columns for publications like Harper's Bazaar, the inaugural issue of George magazine and the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
In 2003, Madonna signed a contract with Callaway Arts & Entertainment. The first release was the children's book, The English Roses, which was translated into 42 different languages over 100 countries. The book debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list, spending a total of 18 weeks there. Telling the story of five friends, The English Roses was deemed by critics as a reflection of Madonna's childhood, and received mixed reaction. Her second children's book, Mr. Peabody's Apples, was released in the same year and also debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list. She continued releasing other books like Yakov and the Seven Thieves, The Adventures of Abdi and Lotsa de Casha; all five books released were included as part of an audiobook in 2006. As of 2007, her first six children's books have sold over three million copies worldwide.
Madonna's interest in Kabbalah inspired her to venture into the children's book market. Her Kabbalah teacher had suggested her to share her spiritual knowledge in the form of written stories. All the books included the lessons Madonna had learned in Kabbalah, teaching about strong morality and warning against greed and envy. A sequel for The English Roses was released in 2006, titled The English Roses: Too Good to be True. Madonna also released a total of twelve chapter books for the series in 2007. Her success as a children's author was noted by Ed Pilkington from The Guardian, who believed that Madonna "lured a host of other celebrities and publishers into the [children's book] market".
Coffee table books Book title Year Other author(s) Publisher Identifiers Notes Sex1992 Maverick Warner BooksCallaway The book contains erotica influenced photographs taken by Steven Meisel and film frames shot by Fabien Baron. An instant commercial success, Sex sold over 150,000 copies on its first day of release. A week later, the book's sales exceeded the 500,000 units there and eventually topped The New York Times Best Seller list. Declared as the "publishing event" of the century, Sex sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide. Madonna: The Girlie Show1995Callaway The photographs in the book showcased behind-the-scenes of the 1993 Girlie Show World Tour with images taken by Herb Ritts. An accompanying CD was released with live tracks "Like a Virgin", "In This Life", and "Why's It So Hard".1996 HarperCollins Featuring an introduction by Madonna, The Making of Evita chronicles the creation of the 1996 American musical drama film Evita. It features more than a hundred film stills and photographs. Alexandra Jacobs from Entertainment Weekly gave it a rating of C−, criticizing the image captions and the price of the book.1998VariousHoughton Mifflin Harcourt This fully illustrated retelling of the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen was accompanied with a CD containing audio readings from 45 personnel from the entertainment world. Madonna penned the eighth prose piece of 1,000 words, titled "The Empress", and the book features a cartoon rendition of herself as Marie Antoinette.X-Static Process2003Assaf Books and Art In 2002, Madonna had collaborated with photographer Steven Klein for an art installation called X-STaTIC PRO=CeSS. The photographs were released as the titular coffee table book, containing 1,000 pages of images. Author Lucy O'Brien described the images as "a performer in her rehearsal space".Nobody Knows Me2004 Boy Toy, Inc. Available for one month only via Madonna's official website. Contained 52 pages of never before seen images of her.Madonna Confessions2008 powerHouse Behind-the-scenes and on-stage pictures from Madonna's 2006 Confessions Tour, with photography by her manager Guy Oseary. The book consists of 224 pages of around 250 color photographs, handpicked by Oseary and Madonna, and are interspersed with quotes from her.I Am Because We Are2009 powerHouse The book contains excerpts from interviews with Malawian children, their biographies, and images taken by photographer Kristen Ashburn for Madonna's 2007 documentary of the same name. Sales proceeds were donated to the charitable organization, Raising Malawi.Madonna: Sticky & Sweet2009 powerHouse Behind-the-scenes and on-stage photography from Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008–09) by Oseary, with editing from photographer Tom Munro. The book consists of 308 pages of over 500 full-color photographs, and was limited to 7,500 initial numbered copies for purchase.Tom Munro2010 Damiani Munro's self-titled first monograph book consists of photographs taken by him throughout his career. One of Madonna's images by Munro was used as the book cover, and she also wrote the foreword. The book was released with an exhibition in Paris, displaying portraits shot by him.Mayumi's Kitchen: Macrobiotic Cooking for Body and Soul2010 Kodansha Mayumi Nishimura worked as Madonna's private chef for seven years, and she specializes in macrobiotic cooking. In 2010, she released the cook book Mayumi's Kitchen: Macrobiotic Cooking for Body and Soul, which contains a foreword by Madonna.
Children's books Picture books Book title Year Illustrator Publisher Identifiers Notes 2003Callaway/Puffin A moral tale about five friends, The English Roses was inspired by Madonna's daughter Lourdes. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide in its first month and 8,000 copies in the first week in United Kingdom. The book debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.Mr. Peabody's Apples2003Callaway/Puffin Madonna's second foray into children's book, Mr. Peabody's Apples talks of a juvenile protagonist called Billy Little, and the importance of always telling the truth. It debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.Yakov and the Seven Thieves2004Callaway/Puffin The story takes place in 18th century Europe with Spirin choosing a baroque painting style to depict it. Yakov and the Seven Thieves talks about a dying boy named Mikhail and his parents search for a cure for him. It debuted at number seven on The New York Times Best Seller list.2004Callaway/Puffin The book tells the story of Young Abdi, who works as an assistant to a magical jeweler named Eli. Madonna promoted the release with a number of magazine, radio and television interviews in London.Lotsa de Casha2005Callaway/Puffin Consisting of a fable, Lotsa de Casha is based on the phrase that "money cannot buy happiness". Depicting the characters as animal, the book tells about a rich Italian greyhound who is self-absorbed.2006Callaway/Puffin An audiobook with an "English Roses" style box, depicting Madonna reading to her daughter Lourdes, and son Rocco.2006Callaway/Puffin The sequel to The English Roses continue the story of the friends as they prepare for their first school dance. Madonna appeared on Home Shopping Network (HSN) to promote the book
Chapter books Chapter books in The English Roses collection. All illustration by Jeffrey Fulvimari.
Book title Year Other author(s) Publisher Identifiers Notes The English Roses: Friends for Life!2007 Puffin The five girls—Nicole, Amy, Charlotte, Grace and Binah—are introduced with Question and Answer sections and more.The English Roses: Goodbye, Grace?2007Callaway/PuffinGrace is afraid because her parents are acting strange. The English Roses have to find out the reason behind it.The English Roses: The New Girl2007PuffinNicole's friend comes to London and the other English Roses are worried that she is stealing Nicole away from them.The English Roses: A Rose by Any Other Name2007PuffinThe friendship of the English Roses is tested again, when the question arises who will be given the leading role in a school play.The English Roses: Big-Sister Blues2008PuffinAmy thinks her life is changing for the worse when her mother becomes pregnant. The English Roses have to help her realize the good things about being a big sister.The English Roses: Being Binah2008PuffinBinah is tired of being "the nice one" and tries to be someone else. The English Roses help her understand to be true to herself.The English Roses: Hooray for the Holidays!2008Callaway/PuffinThere is a Secret Santa gift exchange at school and Charlotte is determined to find the perfect gift. The English Roses have to help her remember the true meaning of Christmas.The English Roses: A Perfect Pair2008PuffinNicole gets entangled in the middle of school gossip and the English Roses have to save Valentine's Day.The English Roses: Runway Rose2009PuffinAmy gets an after-school job at teen fashion week and seems to forget the English Roses.The English Roses: Ready, set, vote!2010Callaway/PuffinSchool elections take place where Nicole runs for class president with Grace as campaign manager.The English Roses: American Dreams2010PuffinThe English Roses are on different vacations. Binah visits Grace's family in Atlanta.The English Roses: Catch the Bouquet!2010PuffinPlanning the perfect wedding: Miss Fluffernutter and Binah's father get married.
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