Madame Saqui: Revolutionary Rope Dancer

by Lisa Robinson, Rebecca Green (Illustrator)

Overview

A stunning picture book biography about the tightrope walker who dazzled Paris as she danced across the sky with impeccable balance and unparalleled skill during the French Revolution.

In revolutionary France, a girl named Marguerite Lalanne longed to perform above large crowds on a tightrope, just like her acrobatic parents. Sneaking off to the fairgrounds for secret tightrope walking lessons, Marguerite finessed her performance skills, ultimately performing for crowds as a young rope dancer. And eventually, Marguerite would perform as Madame Saqui, waltzing and pirouetting across- and never falling off- countless ropes above adoring crowds. A nouvelle chérie de Paris, Madame Saqui cemented her place in circus history, winning the adoration of the French people and royalty alike, including Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

This remarkable biography unveils the inspiring story of a trailblazing woman who revolutionized the circus world— without ever missing a step.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525579977
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	03/24/2020
Pages:	44
Sales rank:	1,099,577
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 11.80(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	910L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

LISA ROBINSON was born in Uganda to two Peace Corps volunteers who would eventually become world-traveling diplomats. She has lived all over the world, including Seattle, Dakar, London, and Moscow. She and her family now call Massachusetts home, where Lisa spends time at the local circus gym, flying through the air with aerial silks. She is also the author of Pippa's Night Parade. Visit her at author-lisa-robinson.com.

REBECCA GREEN is the illustrator of The Unicorn in the Barn and How to Make Friends With a Ghost (which she also authored) which Booklist called "a heartfelt lesson in kindness and caring." In addition to working as an illustrator for children's books, magazines and galleries, she also helps run The Warren, a studio in Nashville that houses five working artists and hosts a variety of community events. Some of her clients include HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, The Wall Street Journal and Flow Magazine. Visit her at myblankpaper.com.

Editorial Reviews

01/06/2020

Eighteenth-century circus child Marguerite-Antoinette Lalanne wants to be a tightrope dancer. Her resolution is so firm that even after her circus performer parents forbid it—they do not want her to suffer a career-ending fall like her father—she finds another teacher, studies in secret, and is up on a tightrope performing by age nine. In this way she resuscitates the fortunes of her family, who form a new circus around her. She wins fame and performs through adulthood on into her 70s: “Madame Saqui simply could not say farewell.” Robinson (Pirates Don’t Go to Kindergarten!) provides background about the French Revolution, explaining how it affects the family’s fortunes (“as riots erupted through the city’s streets, the Lalannes fled to the countryside”). At the height of her fame, Madame Saqui becomes Napoleon’s favorite acrobat, reenacting military battles on her tightrope. Mixed media illustrations by Green (A Year with Mama Earth) in dusky pastels provide period atmosphere with fancy costumes, dramatic lighting, and figures that look just a bit like marionettes. It’s an excursion into a long-ago era, but the iron determination of this story’s hero feels very modern. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Media Group. Illustrator’s agent: Nicole Tugeau, Tugeau 2. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

An excursion into a long-ago era, but the iron determination of this story’s hero feels very modern.” —Publishers Weekly

"This celebration of an astonishing artist will fill readers with wonder and, perhaps, the desire to join the circus." —Booklist

"This riveting picture book biography shines both for Robinson’s pitch-perfect readaloud text and Green’s mural-like artwork, rendered in an age-muted palette of Revolutionary France’s red, white, and blue.” —Bulletin

From the Publisher

04/01/2020

PreS-Gr 3—During the French Revolution, Madame Saqui (1786–1886) may not have been a revolutionary herself; but her style, attitude, and passion for rope dancing were revolutionary ideas indeed. Long before Philippe Petit, who walked between the World Trade Center Buildings, or Charles Blondin, who walked on a wire across Niagara Falls, Madame Saqui achieved international fame as a rope dancer and wire walker. Born Marguerite-Antoinette Lalanne, she grew up in Paris with a dream to perform on a tightrope just like her parents. Not satisfied with making bonnets, she secretly practiced rope dancing at the fairgrounds, reigniting her family's passion for performing. She married fellow acrobat Julien Saqui and danced into the heart of Paris and gained the admiration of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Through both fame and hardship, Madame Saqui danced on without falling; Robinson's high regard for her subject creates a glowing tribute to the rope dancer. Green's palette of soft colors and gouache illustrations provide luminous visuals of early 1800s Paris and highlight the magic of these performances. An author's note, a glossary of French terms, and a bibliography are included. VERDICT This lesser-known subject is an inspiration for daring girls. An excellent addition to biography collections.—Jamie Jensen, Wayne Cox Elementary School, Roanoke, TX

School Library Journal

2019-12-08
In the first picture-book biography of Madame Saqui, readers meet the talented, persevering French tightrope walker who defied gravity.

Marguerite-Antoinette Lalanne and her family flip and tumble onstage in late-18th-century Paris. Marguerite longs to dance on a tightrope, like her parents. But political upheaval in revolutionary-era France drives the family to the countryside, where, secretly, Marguerite takes ropewalking lessons. When her parents see her perform, they decide to return to circus life. After Marguerite marries, performing as Madame Saqui in her husband's family circus, she heads back to Paris, becoming its "darling" and Napoleon's favored acrobat. An inspirational tone — emphasizing the setbacks Saqui faced, her strong-willed spirit, and her daring feats (including ropewalking between the towers of Notre Dame de Paris)—pervades the story: "And she never fell," readers learn on the final page, as an elderly Saqui ropewalks in her 70s. Green's muted, stylized illustrations feature dramatic moments, as when Saqui, clad in a flowing white dress, dances across a tightrope as fireworks and stars twinkle in the Parisian sky. Saqui and most characters are white, but there is some diversity among other performers. Where readers fall on the complex legacy of Napoleon (warmonger or French hero?) may color their feelings about the book's tone; as he "waged war across Europe, Madame Saqui reenacted his battles." Italicized French words are sporadically incorporated into the text.

A reverent introduction to a trailblazing performer. (glossary) (Picture book. 6-12)

Kirkus Reviews