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Madeline: kids books ages 3-5
An animated series based on the popular children's books. Madeline, although the smallest girl in Miss Clavelle's boarding...
23 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2022
28 people are currently reading
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 24, 2024
The perfect collection to read when you’re recovering from a root canal and the recent clusterfuck of a U.S. election, Madeline will make you feel like life is worth living, at least for the hour it takes to read the collection of the first six books in the series.
All gallows humor aside, Bemelmans’ books about redheaded, tiny Madeline, who famously lives in a convent school - the “old house in Paris that was covered with vines” - among the “twelve little girls in two straight lines” are as charming and ever so slightly dark as they were fifty years ago.
Last month, I learned that just after creating Madeline, author Ludwig Bemelmans wrote Hotel Splendide, based on his experiences as a waiter in a hotel restaurant. It was considered the Kitchen Confidential of its time. That same dark humor is softened in the Madeline books, but you can still catch sly glimpses of it.
And I guess we all just went with that darkness as kids, because in the first few books, some serious shit goes down. In the first book, Madeline is almost immediately given a life saving operation; rescued “from her watery grave” by a gentle, beautiful dog (Madeline’s Rescue); the little boy next door (the “Bad Hat” from Madeline and the Bad Hat) builds a guillotine to behead chickens; and a possibly dead horse is mentioned - and illustrated - in the context of a “glue factory” (Madeline in London).
And…Madeline and the Gypsies, in which Madeline and the Bad Hat run away with the circus and are adopted/kidnapped by a “Gypsy mother” who eventually *sews them into a lion costume so they can’t leave her*…well, that’s a whole other review.
The gentle bite of kidlit realism aside - and ignoring the fever dream insanity of Madeline and the Gypsies - these are classics for a reason. The art, the timeless verse (“…to the tiger in the zoo/Madeline just said ‘poo-poo!”), the soothing presence of Miss Clavel…all the elements are still just wonderful, mildly edgy, and magical.
All gallows humor aside, Bemelmans’ books about redheaded, tiny Madeline, who famously lives in a convent school - the “old house in Paris that was covered with vines” - among the “twelve little girls in two straight lines” are as charming and ever so slightly dark as they were fifty years ago.
Last month, I learned that just after creating Madeline, author Ludwig Bemelmans wrote Hotel Splendide, based on his experiences as a waiter in a hotel restaurant. It was considered the Kitchen Confidential of its time. That same dark humor is softened in the Madeline books, but you can still catch sly glimpses of it.
And I guess we all just went with that darkness as kids, because in the first few books, some serious shit goes down. In the first book, Madeline is almost immediately given a life saving operation; rescued “from her watery grave” by a gentle, beautiful dog (Madeline’s Rescue); the little boy next door (the “Bad Hat” from Madeline and the Bad Hat) builds a guillotine to behead chickens; and a possibly dead horse is mentioned - and illustrated - in the context of a “glue factory” (Madeline in London).
And…Madeline and the Gypsies, in which Madeline and the Bad Hat run away with the circus and are adopted/kidnapped by a “Gypsy mother” who eventually *sews them into a lion costume so they can’t leave her*…well, that’s a whole other review.
The gentle bite of kidlit realism aside - and ignoring the fever dream insanity of Madeline and the Gypsies - these are classics for a reason. The art, the timeless verse (“…to the tiger in the zoo/Madeline just said ‘poo-poo!”), the soothing presence of Miss Clavel…all the elements are still just wonderful, mildly edgy, and magical.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2023
Format
This digital copy has 4 pages per digital page. It takes away from the story and it makes the pictures small. Do not like this at all!
This digital copy has 4 pages per digital page. It takes away from the story and it makes the pictures small. Do not like this at all!
May 15, 2023
bad format
Multiple pages you have to zoom in to be able to read on each screen. The words aren’t otherwise visible. Not a good reading experience.
Multiple pages you have to zoom in to be able to read on each screen. The words aren’t otherwise visible. Not a good reading experience.
March 23, 2024
Cavite. Book as a Child
I have no idea why I love this book, but its a favorite! I have two original additions from the 1950s, that my grandchildren now have!
I have no idea why I love this book, but its a favorite! I have two original additions from the 1950s, that my grandchildren now have!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews