page_title: Lotsa de Casha
section_title: Publication and reception
hierarchical_section_title: Lotsa de Casha / Publication and reception
caption_attribution_description: English: Bergdorf Goodman department store on Fifth Avenue from 57th to 58th Streets designed in 1928 by architects Kahn &amp; Jacobs. The facade is faced with white marble and is described as a mansion-style commercial building.
context_page_description: Lotsa de Casha is a picture book written by American entertainer Madonna. It was released on June 7, 2005, by Callaway Arts & Entertainment. The book was written for readers aged six and up. The book's titular character is an Italian greyhound who learns the moral "money can't buy happiness". Madonna drew from her life when writing the story, from denouncing materialism to her motherhood. Portuguese artist Rui Paes illustrated the book, and modeled his illustrations on Renaissance and Baroque painting, and the works of painter Caravaggio.
  Callaway hosted a party for the book release at New York's Bergdorf Goodman store, where Madonna read the story aloud. She also made promotional appearances on television talk shows and gave magazine interviews. Lotsa de Casha debuted at number three on The New York Times Best Seller list. It received mixed reviews from book critics, who found some humor in the story, but felt it did not gel with Paes' illustrations, which received positive feedback.
context_section_description: The book was released on June 7, 2005, at a party hosted by retailer Bergdorf Goodman at New York's Fifth Avenue. It was attended by socialites and artists with signed copies of Lotsa de Casha available to purchase for $75, proceedings going to UNICEF. Attendees were dressed up in 18th century garments, depicting characters from the book. According to Reuters, the book reading at Bergdorf Goodman "drew puzzled responses from the group of about 25 kids, who appeared to have difficulty grasping the book's morals". Other promotions included book signing at Borders Time Warner Center and reading sessions at New York libraries. The singer read out to the students of Saint Ann's School from Brooklyn Heights, and handed out autographed copies. Tatiana Delgiannakis from New York Post noted that Madonna employed an Italian accent while reading aloud Lotsa's parts. Madonna appeared on NBC's Today show and ABC's The View to talk about the book, and gave interview in Ladies' Home Journal magazine for its July 2005 issue.
  Lotsa de Casha debuted at number three on The New York Times Best Seller list. Elaine Stuart from Parenting found humor in the names Madonna gave in the book, like naming Lotsa's castle as "Flasha de Casa" and the mountain on which it is situated as the "Muchadougha Mountains", details she believed would make the readers laugh. Roy Blatchford from Books for Keeps liked the story and rated it four-out-of-five stars. He said that the story avoided any cliche plots, "creates a number of original cameos and bounces along with humour and lively dialogue, clearly influenced by [Madonna]'s Italian New York background." Blatchford complimented Paes' images describing them as "striking" and the design as "eye-catching" thus making Lotsa de Casha "a first-class picture book to grace any library". A review in Publishers Weekly called the story as "artless fable" but believed that Paes' illustrations improved it with the "tongue-in-cheek homage to classic Baroque painting". The reviewer found that in contrast to the grand images, the story appeared simple and the accented edge on Lotsa's words were "uncharacteristic of a rich gentleman". Delgiannakis complimented the "beautifully illustrated" images in the book but found it to be littered with "preachy factoids" like "Just because something is expensive, doesn’t mean it's worth it". Boyd Tonkin from The Independent panned the release, calling it "howlingly egotistical" and a vehicle of "personal gratification" for Madonna, "rather than a virtue in itself". Ilene Cooper of Booklist said that like many other celebrities-turned-authors, Madonna mistakenly thought that she could write books for children.
caption: The book release party was held at New York's Bergdorf Goodman store.
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