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1. What type of child is Madeline?

Madeline has been reading since age three, and now, at age five, has read most of Dickens. She is the type of child who can hum a Bach concerto but cannot tie her shoes. She can explain the earth's rotation, but she does not do well at tic-tac-toe.

2. How does Madeline try to fit in at school?

Madeline understands that she needs to fit in at school. Her mother never did, and look at what happened to her. So Madeline makes sure to remove the notes her mother puts in her lunch, read them, and then put them in a shoebox. At school, she pretends to be basically illiterate like all the other kids. Fitting in matters to her.

3. How do Madeline's lunches her mother packs compare to other children's lunches they bring from home?

While other children bring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to school for lunch, Madeline's lunch is not average. She might have a slice of lasagna, buttery zucchini, kiwi, cherry tomatoes, chocolate chip cookies, and a thermos of ice-cold milk.

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