Madeline
Ludwig Bemelmans
Madeline
(Puffin Books, 1939)
Kids books for your child or grandchild. I got thinking. In 1939 Ludwig Bemelmans wrote and drew Madeline. I would guess his publishing numbers outstripped everyone for at least 15 years. So simple, so much fun, you can spin to a child the concept of Paris. Paris! Just think about it. How do you explain Paris?
I remember reading to my eldest daughter, to this day, Madeline’s hospital bed in a room, “On her bed there was a crank, and a crack on the ceiling had the habit of sometimes looking like a rabbit.”
When your child or grandchild is older you can take her or him to New York and visit the Café Carlyle. Here jazz is played, in a bar, all dark and surrounded by Bemelmans frescoes of a snowy night in New York. Magic for you, magic for the offspring.
There are eight other Madeline books.
