|
Madeline, Reissue of 1939 edition (Hardcover) (精装)
by Ludwig Bemelmans
| Category:
Tale, Award-winning, Ages 4-8, Children's books |
| Market price: ¥ 198.00
MSL price:
¥ 178.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Madeline, smallest and naughtiest of the twelve little charges of Miss Clavel, wakes up one night with an attack of appendicitis. A funny reading! |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
|
| |
AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 7 items |
|
|
Sarah McIntosh Puglisi (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-19 00:00>
When I was a young girl of seven my mother purchased this book for me. Along with a Robert Louis Stevenson's Child's Garden of Verses and Babar, a child's Bible and some Golden Books like Bambi and a Mary Poppins.
I then had the core of my early book collection that now is uncountable, but in the thousands. Madeline was dear to me for her adventurous spirit, her surgery scar, and her famous yellow coat and clothes. As a child I had a scar too, though mine was on my forehead from a serious concussion and a skull fracture from age five and I also owned coincidentally a definitive yellow coat. But it was perhaps the spirit of the main character I admired and her dramatic flair that compelled me to state to my 1st grade that I could indeed speak and sing in French. It was a rather defining "prove it " moment followed by several rounds of gibberish and Frere Jacques. Oh well. You move on from these things eventually.
I know I admired the drama and rhyme in this book all my life. Now I am a teacher of 1st graders and have used the story in spring for years.(and my 10 years of French still sounds like gibberish) They can read it now; they can also use the pattern and sound to carry them through the text when reading tires them as it does at the beginning stages in these dull phonics things they mandate. "In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines" still thrills them and me too. I like the sound of that and the children like the sound. I even enjoy when a stretched rhyme comes weaving in, as in "arm" with "warm" ,which is something rather delightful throughout the series. For my Sheltered Immersion students the flavor of this is so helpful in teaching reading with expression and cadence. They so enjoy the looks at landmarks worldwide like the Eiffel Tower. This is a part of this book, part of the genius. It's the time of the year in my instruction when it just all fits together so well using her story.
If you do not know the book (and can I suggest that this seems nearly impossible) Madeline is living in an old house in Paris of all places(one of my students Gabriela informed us this is the city of "love") at her boarding school under the care of a kind Miss Clavel who is clearly dressed as a nun. She is a bold little girl who in the middle of the night suffers an appendix emergency. She is rushed to the hospital, cared for and the other girls grow a bit jealous at her surgery after a visit because she has the loveliest collection of gifts ever. I remember that I had my fiasco with no gifts and somehow when I would look at that I formed my idea of parenting. Thus my daughters and son had everything. It was a silliness I blame squarely on Madeline repressed memories.
Madeline has spawned sequels, websites, clubs, notions of stories about other little girls, dolls, TV shows, movies and lots of merchandising that we endure as "wonderful" when our children are little. I think the genius of the author, Ludwig Bemelmans, is in the gouache paintings that are such masterpieces. You behold a certain kind of free and engaging illustration. For me they are literally like Raoul Dufy works.... perhaps a touch of Chagall. And for that reason I have all my life a strong connection to certain artists. I love the scene of Notre Dame. When I was 16 and again in my 20's going to Paris and seeing these places it really was filtered through the impressions and images in my mind from this and also from Madeline's Rescue where the images presented in the text in color increased. I love rapid, gestural mark. This is such a part of Madeline's images. There is a reason why the TV work and the movie didn't interest me so much. My relationship to this book, this text was a voyage into these marks and these colloquial, charming, almost comically uncontrived pictures. There is a world of experience in an artist informing/creating that "simple" work. Reminds me of the peace doves of later Picasso...the times of these kinds of poster arts. Lovely. Truly.
Every time I teach this book we do 12x18 images of the old house and washy watercolors over crayon images. Then make Madelines separately and affix them to the images. It's so delightful really and I associate her with spring daffodils. Sometimes we also make up our own adventures for her and do a bit of writing. It's just remarkable to have a character so dynamic, female, and independent. Madeline is just joyfully living. Hopefully she survives many more generations of readers and can be a part of the literacy experiences in classrooms for years. Just a little suggestion...get your children drawing and painting. Madeline would approve.
|
|
|
Lawrance Bernabo (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-19 00:00>
I have had several occasions to read "Madeline" over the years, yet had never read anything about her. So learning that she had celebrated her 60th birthday was something of a surprise because I did not think of this first story of that irrepressible little girl as something that was first published on the eve of World War II. But the bigger surprise was learning that "Madeline" was not originally written and published in France, which I had always assumed was the case. That means all of those times I was reading this book and wondering what it would read like in the orignal French, I was completely off the mark. Live and learn.
Ludwig Bemelmans was actually born in 1898 in that part of the Tyrol which is now known as Merano, Italy, and came to the United States in 1914. A painter and illustrator, Bemelmans contributed covers to "The New Yorker," and also started writing fiction. His first children's book, "Hansi," was published in 1934. A world traveler and true cosmopolite, Bemelmans wrote and illustrated "Madeline" in 1939 but had trouble finding a publisher because most editors felt that despite its humorous verse and simple artwork the book was too sophisticated for children (Soon & Schuster originally published the book, although the rest of the series would be published by Viking, Bemelmans usual publisher). Bemelmans named his most popular creation for his wife, Madeleine Freund, whom he had married in 1935. They had a daughter named Barbara, who would provide inspiration for some of the Madeline books.
Thinking that this book was originally written and published in France is a reasonable conclusion given all of the Paris scenes Bemelmans pictures in his book. You have the Eiffel Tower on the cover and in one of the illustrations, the lady feeding the horse is in front of the Paris Opera House, the gendarme chases the jewel thief across the Place Vendome, the wounded soldier is at the Hotel des Invalides, the children visit Notre Dame in the rain and the Gardens at the Luxembourg on the sunny day, they sake in front of the Church of the Sacre Coeur, and the man feeding the birds is in the Tuileries Gardens which face the Louvre. These settings comprise part of the book's enduring charm. I always remember the yellow pages that represent "the old house in Paris that was covered with vines," especially since yellow is also the color of the hats, coats, and often the dresses that the "twelve little girls in two straight lines" wear. Yellow is also the color of Madeline's hair in this one, although that will change in future books. But Bemelmans also takes full advantage of the complete palette when he does the scenes that happen out and about Paris (and children like him because he colors outside the lines, just like they do).
Still, in the end the prime attraction is Madeline, who is the smallest one of the twelve girls. But Madeline "was not afraid of mice," just said "Pooh-pooh" to the tiger in the zoo, and knew how to frighten Miss Clavel more than anybody else. Madeline is smart, says what she thinks, and is she is a bit disobedient that is just another reason to love her. After all, she is part of a literary family of similar young girls that go back to Anne Shirley in the "Anne of Green Gables" books and Jo March in "Little Women" (Age them and I suppose you end up with Scarlett O'Hara). Perhaps not all little girls would be as brave as Madeline when they are rushed out to the hospital in the middle of the night for an emergency appendectomy, but I suspect most young girls would like to think that they would be as brave and that they would show off the scar on their stomach with as much lan as Madeline.
|
|
|
Laura (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-19 00:00>
Ever since I was old enough to read I've loved Madeline! I remember going to the library and checking out this book and all the other ones in the series (Madeline and the bad hat, Madeline to the rescue...) I was always disappointed that they were checked out. I am 21 years old now and still have an infactuation with Madeline! She is a great role model for children of all ages and the stories and lessons learned from them stick with you! |
|
|
Elizabeth S. (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-19 00:00>
As a child, some of my favorite books were the Madeline stories. This is the first in the series, and it sets a wonderful tone. The illustrations are wonderful, and it's fun to see illustrations of actual Parisian landmarks such as the Opera, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and Tulleries. The story is fun, fast and catchy, and I used to wish that I was one of the little girls standing amongst the two straight lines lead by Miss Clavel.
This book is not just for little girls. Boys can enjoy the story as well.
|
|
|
Britt Lindland (MSL quote), Norway
<2007-03-19 00:00>
Growing up in Norway I had never heard of Madeline untill my family visited USA some years ago. Our oldest daughter was then in the perfect age for the Madeline books (and dolls) We bought Madeline, and have since then read it over and over again. Now our youngest daughter is 6, and it's her turn to be in the perfect Madeline age.
Madeline is a little girl living in Paris with 11 other small girls, and their teacher Miss Clavel. Madeline is a charming little girl, and see to it that life in the small school is never boring. The story is told on rhymes in a perfectly charming way. You should think that the story might be a little hard to follow for the reader/listener, but the contrary is the truth. Just as it is a cute, charming story it is a great way of introducing rhymes to your children.
Of course, the most funny part is when Madeline is in hospital because of her appendix and all the other 11 girls also want to woke up in the middle of the night, to be taken to the hospital to have a scar on their stomach. It is lovely reading
|
|
|
Christy Bagasao (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-19 00:00>
Ludwig Bemelman has captured in the character of Madeline the spunk and innocent mischief that make little girls such fun...and so surprising! From Madeline's precarious balancing on the bridge to the bold displaying of her scar, she culminates everything a young child is (or wishes to be) that so amuses and bemuses us parents! My daughters adore the Madeline books, the girls themselves and their dog. They've even taken to studying French with me! Bemelman's rhymes are charming, although they do not quite flow at times (adds to the charm?) and the illustrations are wonderful introductions to Parisian landmarks. I have enjoyed reading these books with my little Madelines, and enjoy it even more when they "read" them back to me. Five stars!
|
|
|
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-19 00:00>
A short children's story about a young girl who lives with eleven other girls in a home in Paris and who has to go to the hospital to have her appendix removed. It was a 1940 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustration in a book for children. This book, and others in the Madeline series, have become classics in children literature and every serious student of children literature should have it on their shelves. Children love these books.
|
|
|
|
1 Total 1 pages 7 items |
|
|
|
|
|
|
