Brian Hall

The author explores the changes that occur in his daughter's life from the moment she is born through her third birthday, attempting to put into words her realizations about herself, her life, family, and surroundings

A Child's Journey from Birth to Age Three

Madeleine's World

This book is a biography of Brian Hall's daughter, Madeleine. It begins with her birth and ends on her 3rd birthday. Along the way, it describes the transition from infant solipsism to toddler self-absorption to a small person's sociability. It records monumental achievements and devastating disillusionments. The biography is a map of an expanding world in which dragons still roam but terra incognito is pushed inexorably back. Although this is the record of an individual life, anyone interested in children will find themselves swept up in this fundamental and universal voyage, as Hall charts the rising arc of a new consciousness.

Greg Talbot

“Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk.” –Carl Jung “When you’re young, you think your dad is Superman. Then you grow up, and you realize he’s just a regular guy who wears a cape.” – Unknown Having a child, as many of my friends have or are starting to do, brings all these illuminating discussions about parenthood. And I can hardly think of anything more daunting or exciting than becoming a parent. The stresses, the challenges, the re-living your youth in a way. Madeline's World flips this..and gives those defining moments that happen during a diaper change, a doll playhouse scene, flipping over a dead a ladybug or making up the imaginary words to build a rapport with her parent. Neither sentimental nor academic, Hall writes from the perspective of a father stretched in imagination, bewilderment, and most often empathy In one of my favorite quotes on Madeline's growth he writes "Her first year was a series of falls from paradise: first from that well-watered garden, the buoyant womb, then from the oversoul, plummeting down into individuality as Madeline recognized not-Madeleine, and in trecognizing it, walled it out; and now this, the shattering of the union of her will with ours, the loosing into the world of discord" (p.46). . And from his erudite story of her growth from birth to 3-years, he charts her budding interest in her self-exploration. From walking, making friends, making poop (so much poop curiosity), making ethical choices, and pondering death, we get Hall's hilarious and gentle first hand account. In the epilogue, which at first seems rather silly, as their child is still in the beginning of charting her life, Hall comments on the things Madeleine has lost. Like her crib memories. Or the Christmas carols they sang on non-holidays. Hall comments on his own "nostalgia", "a series of autumn moods, that will pill up, layer on layer, as she leaves her various younger selves behind" (p.255). For all us parents or aspirants, we have classes, manuals and mothers to remind us of all the things to prepare ourselves. Books like "Madeline's World" display the wisdom to take in these precious moments, because our own experiences as parents in magical kingdoms and imaginary worlds is short, but the life of love is a long time.

Madeleine's World A Child's Journey from Birth to Age Three

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