The English Roses book and its characters were named after Madonna's daughter Lourdes' school friends at Lycée Franco-Libanais Tripoli. It tells the story of four friends who are jealous of a girl called Binah. However, they come to know that Binah's life is not easy and decide to include her in their group. A moral tale, while writing "The English Roses" Madonna drew from her own personal experiences, including her mother's death at an early age. Jeffrey Fulvimari spontaneous line drawings illustrated the book. The book was released simultaneously in more than 100 countries worldwide and translated into 42 languages. Promotional activities included
Ring a Ring o' Roses article from the "Brooklyn Eagle". A group of young children (the eldest being about seven) form a ring, from which a boy takes out a girl and kisses her. An early version of the rhyme occurs in a novel of 1855, "The Old Homestead" by Ann S. Stephens: <poem> A ring – a ring of roses, Laps full of posies; Awake – awake! Now come and make A ring – a ring of roses.</poem> The novel goes on to describe a nineteenth-century Fourth of July celebration by children housed in a hospital in Roosevelt Island, New York (then known as