hellomagazine.com

MADONNA SHOWS DAVID THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF N.Y.C.

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6 NOVEMBER 2006

For a 13-month-old toddler who has only ever known the poverty-stricken surroundings of life in a Malawian orphanage, David Banda is quickly being introduced to an altogether different scene with his prospective mum Madonna.

The Jump singer, who is hoping to adopt the little boy, has already introduced him to London and has now shown him the Big Apple during a trip to promote her latest children's book Too Good To Be True last week. Dressed in one of her trademark tracksuits and oversized shades, the pop queen was spotted on Saturday tenderly holding David who was clearly taking it all in.

Quickly notching up his air miles, David, who suffered a series of serious health problems as a baby, looked wide-eyed and full of curiosity on the New York jaunt. And he won't have been short of eager playfellows on the transatlantic trip. Madonna's two children, Lourdes, 10, and Rocco, 6, were also accompanying their famous mum, joining her for a Kaballah service during their stay.

While in the US, Madonna has been keen to dispel critical media reports surrounding her attempts to adopt David. Speaking to Time magazine, she claimed the average person didn't care about it. "But when you throw in things like I'm a celebrity and I somehow got special treatment, or make the implication of kidnapping, it gets mixed into a stew and it sells lots of papers," she said. Madonna and her film-maker husband Guy Richie were granted an interim adoption order by Malawi's High Court last month.