by Ludwig Bemelmans

It took Ludwig Bemelmans years to think of Madeline's next adventure after the 1939 original Madeline, but he did it, and the result was Madeline's Rescue, winner of the 1954 Caldecott Medal. One day on a walk through Paris (a "twelve little girls in two straight lines" kind of walk), Madeline slips and falls off a bridge right into the Seine. Everyone feared she would be dead, "But for a dog / That kept its head," saving her from a "watery grave." What choice do Madeline and the girls have but to take the heroic pooch home, feed her biscuits, milk, and beef, and name her Genevieve? Sadly, when Lord Cucuface gets wind of the new dog, he decrees that no dogs will be allowed in the "old house in Paris that was covered with vines," and kicks Genevieve out on the street. Madeline vows vengeance, and the girls scour Paris looking for the pup: "They went looking high / and low / And every place a dog might go. / In every place they called her name / But no one answered to the same." As we've come to expect from Bemelmans, all's well that ends well chez Clavel, and young readers will be tickled by this heartwarming, quirky dog story with a surprise finale. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

Here is the best of Bemelmans on the subject he loved most: la bonne table. The entrancing memories and charming pictures assembled here transport the reader behind the scenes of the great hotels of Europe and America - including the immortal "Hotel Splendide" - and such restaurants as the Tour d'Argent in Paris and Le Pavillon in New York. Memorable dishes, the eccentric geniuses of the kitchens who created them, the opulent and often astonishing patrons who ordered them, the legendary wines and the occasions they toasted, are all evoked in rich and piquant flavor. The gifted and exuberant Ludwig Bemelmans was trained as a boy for a career as a restauranteur, and La Bonne Table is in effect his gastonomical autobiography. The high - and sometimes riotous low - points of his life with food, from Austrian cafes to the late, lamented Ritz of New York, are narrated with delight and zest as he celebrates beer and sausages, pressed duck and caviar, and the chefs who cooked for him. He remembers with decidedly mixed emotions the ways of the busboy and the waiter, and the qualities that make up the perfect maitre d'. He muses over great menus and great eaters - and soon makes the reader very hungry. Here, truly, is a feast of reading, as a lost world of luxury and elegance is brilliantly evoked and savored. Bemelmans' extraordinary charm captivated all who met him; it glows through the pages of La Bonne Table.

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

One day the Spanish ambassador moves into the Parisian house next door to Miss Clavel, Madeline, and her 11 classmates. And, His Excellency has a boy! Pepito, as he is named, is not just any boy: according to Madeline, he is a "bad hat"--for starters, he's equipped with an irksome slingshot, he "ghosts," and he boasts. And when Miss Clavel gives him a box of tools to function as an "outlet for his energy," he makes a guillotine for the cook's chickens. ("He ate them ROASTED, GRILLED, AND FRITO! Oh what a horror was PEPITO.") Children will love Ludwig Bemelmans's jaunty rhymes and simple, evocative drawings, and the ferocity with which the feisty Madeline suspects, condemns, and rebuffs the boisterous new boy neighbor. In the end, however, everything comes out right, and we, along with Miss Clavel, can relax. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

Madeline, in all her incarnations over six decades, has remained first and foremost one of "twelve little girls in two straight lines" in an old house in Paris. Now, with news that will astound her many fans, not to mention Madeline herself, she and her 11 cohorts find themselves on their way to Texas, U.S.A. Madeline a wealthy cowgirl? Why not! She handles her marvelous windfall with her usual aplomb, donning denim and boots to hop aboard a horse for a tour of her newly inherited gold mines, stampeding cattle herds, and gushing oil fields. At the end of the day, Miss Clavel prepares to tuck 12 little girls into bed--but wait... there are only 11! Where's Madeline? Traditionalists need not fear that wealth will corrupt their favorite little orphan. Some surprises are still in store, even for Madeline. While sorting through his grandfather's files, artist and writer John Bemelmans Marciano discovered the manuscript and pencil sketches for this last of the much-loved Madeline series. With great respect, Marciano completed the project with full-color paintings, and added two more of Bemelmans's holiday classics--"The Count and the Cobbler" and "Sunshine"--to create a collection no Bemelmans and Madeline devotee can do without. (Click to see a sample spread. Copyright 1999 by Barbara Bemelmans, Madeline Bemelmans, and John Bemelmans Marciano. Used by permission of Scholastic Inc.) (Ages 4 to 8--or all ages, of course) --Emilie Coulter

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

One day Pepito, son of the Spanish ambassador who lives next door to Madeline, invites her and her cohorts to a Gypsy carnival. They venture forth excitedly, but suddenly a storm hits the fairgrounds, so everyone hops in a taxi and heads back home. Except for Madeline and Pepito, that is--forgotten and stuck at the top of a Ferris wheel in a downpour. Pepito climbs down to get help, and the Gypsy Mama takes the children under her wing ... and on the road. Gypsy life affords many previously forbidden wonders to the two kids--they get to float in a pool while everyone else is in school, and they don't have to brush their teeth, or even sleep. In between learning how to walk the tightrope and juggling, they send Miss Clavel a postcard. "'Thank heaven,' she said, 'The children are well! / But dear, oh dear, they've forgotten how to spell.'" As she and Madeline's 11 classmates race to find them (based on the postmark location), the Gypsy Mama sees the approaching Parisian posse in her crystal ball. Despite the Gypsy Mama's worst intentions, and the fact that she sewed the children into an old lion's costume to hide them, Madeline and Pepito are reunited with Miss Clavel and the others. The Chicago Tribune writes, "How inevitable that the irrepressible Madeline should one day meet up with gypsies.... As absurd and amusing as ever." (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring because of a nasty, contagious illness--even the mouse is in bed with a miserable cold. Only brave Madeline is up and about ... competently running the household until she hears a knock at the door--a visitor whom she suspects might be Santa Claus. Instead it is a magical-rug merchant, with 12 red carpets that Madeline thinks would be perfect for the 12 girls and "For our ice-cold in the morning feet." She procures a few francs from Miss Clavel and pays the merchant. Without his rugs, however, he is very chilly, and he feels quite silly for having sold them. He returns to the old house (still covered in vines), where Madeline helps him thaw out, and he works a little Christmas magic--sending the girls on cross-country carpet rides to surprise their parents. Of course, Miss Clavel's bell breaks the spell and they're all back in time to celebrate the New Year. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

What on earth could make Miss Clavel, Madeline, and her 11 nameless classmates leave belle Paris for the tea-and-crumpeted, sometimes trumpeted city of London? A mission to cheer up the lonely, thin, increasingly despondent Pepito, son of the Spanish ambassador, who had to move away from his house next door to Madeline's in Paris. In their efforts to cheer him up, and for a birthday surprise, Miss Clavel and the girls buy him a retired horse. All is fine until the horse gallops off at the sound of the trumpet to take his place at the head of the queen's Life Guards (his occupation before retiring). As readers whoosh through busy London scenes, we forget the horse has had nothing to eat all day. Upon his return to Pepito's home, he eats everything in sight: "The gardener dropped his garden hose. / There wasn't a daisy or a rose. / 'All my work and all my care / For nought! Oh, this is hard to bear.'" Meanwhile, as the horse is passed out from exhaustion and overeating, Pepito's mother says he has to go. And so Madeline and the others take the horse home with them to Paris, where "They brushed his teeth and gave him bread, / And covered him up / and put him to bed." Ludwig Bemelmans charms us again with the uniquely skewed logic and matter-of-fact madness of childhood that young readers will adore. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

This elegant volume--perhaps one of the best gift books on the planet--contains all six adventures of the irrepressible, mischievous Madeline (the smallest and spunkiest of the twelve little girls in two straight lines). Ludwig Bemelmans's Madeline was first published in 1939, and its five sequels have all become classics. In Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anna Quindlen's introduction to Mad About Madeline she writes, "Amid a childhood full of children's books, amid glorious pictures and imaginative plots, it is worth wondering why this story is among a handful of books that now-grown children invariably buy for their own more than half a century after Ludwig Bemelmans began writing it on the back of a restaurant menu." Inside this hefty, richly illustrated edition, you'll find Madeline, Madeline and the Bad Hat, Madeline's Rescue, Madeline and the Gypsies, Madeline in London, and Madeline's Christmas, in addition to Quindlen's splendidly insightful introduction, an essay by Bemelmans on how he invented Madeline, never-before-published working sketches of Madeline, and photos of the Bemelmans family. The perfect gift for anyone who has made friends with--or should be introduced to--the precocious Madeline. (The jaunty verse makes Madeline perfect for reading aloud, and readers ages 6 and older will enjoy sounding out names such as Lord Cucuface.)

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

Ludwig Bemelmans--legendary bon vivant and raconteur, and author of the Madeline stories as well as the surprise success of last year, Hotel Bemelmans--lived life like a character in a novel. Wherever Ludwig went and whatever he did--letting Parisian criminals baby-sit his daughter, getting caught with his toenails painted red by the Gestapo, or discovering the only restaurant with toilets in the Amazon Jungle--his escapades are guaranteed entertainment. When You Lunch with the Emperor collects Bemelman's work under the headings of Childhood, Work, and Play. Readers will enjoy their lunch with the Bemelmans!

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

Monsieur Le Comte de St Cucuface, a charismatic aristocrat fallen on hard times, slums his way around postwar France in elegant style, trading on his name and his exquisite manners. After a chance encounter on a train, he convinces a wide-eyed Ludwig Bemelmans to adopt the identity of an imaginary German prince and join him in his ruse. Together they set out on an enchanted adventure through a France that is crumbling to dust, feeding off the comically vulgar continental set that is fast replacing Cucuface's blue-blooded caste. They dine on the finest food and wine, stay at the most splendid hotels and chateaux, pausing only for Cucuface to recount another amusing tale of his eccentric lineage. Mixing autobiography and fiction to magical effect, How to Travel Incognito is an affectionate and melancholic hymn to the passing of an ancient order.

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

This elegant volume--perhaps one of the best gift books on the planet--contains all six adventures of the irrepressible, mischievous Madeline (the smallest and spunkiest of the twelve little girls in two straight lines). Ludwig Bemelmans's Madeline was first published in 1939, and its five sequels have all become classics. In Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anna Quindlen's introduction to Mad About Madeline she writes, "Amid a childhood full of children's books, amid glorious pictures and imaginative plots, it is worth wondering why this story is among a handful of books that now-grown children invariably buy for their own more than half a century after Ludwig Bemelmans began writing it on the back of a restaurant menu." Inside this hefty, richly illustrated edition, you'll find Madeline, Madeline and the Bad Hat, Madeline's Rescue, Madeline and the Gypsies, Madeline in London, and Madeline's Christmas, in addition to Quindlen's splendidly insightful introduction, an essay by Bemelmans on how he invented Madeline, never-before-published working sketches of Madeline, and photos of the Bemelmans family. The perfect gift for anyone who has made friends with--or should be introduced to--the precocious Madeline. (The jaunty verse makes Madeline perfect for reading aloud, and readers ages 6 and older will enjoy sounding out names such as Lord Cucuface.)

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by noname

Includes: 1. Madeline's Adventures - The Pirates / The Gypsies 2.Madeline's Dog Stories - Madeline and The Dog Show / Madeline's Rescue 3.Madeline: The Star - Madeline In Hollywood / Madelin and The Soccer Star 4.Madeline - The Best Episodes Ever - Madeline at the Ballet/Madeline in New York (Vol. 1) 5.Madeline - The Best Episodes Ever - Madeline and the 40 Thieves/Madeline and the New House (Vol. 2) 6.Madeline's Christmas/Madeline and the Toy Factory 7.Madeline's Winter Vacation / Madeline in London

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

No child could resist this adorable, 9-inch-tall, rag-doll-soft Madeline--complete with appendix-removal scar! This Parisian schoolgirl sports a jaunty felt hat with a trailing black ribbon, perfect for the mischievous redhead who is not afraid of mice and pooh-poohs the tiger at the zoo. Her blue sailor dress is removable for frequent scar viewing! Each doll comes in a big, splashy gift box (12 inches by 12 inches by 4 inches) with one unabridged paperback edition of Ludwig Bemelmans's original Madeline ("and that's all there is--there isn't any more"). (Ages 3 and older)

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by The New Yorker

Nothing complements a wall like a witty and sophisticated piece of art from The New Yorker. Each cover is produced on demand, prepared by hand at an art gallery on acid-free archival paper, and secured in an off-white rag mat. Covers are reproduced using the giclée process, which is French for "spraying of ink. It is unmatched in its precise coloring and razor-sharp detailing, and has become the benchmark for fine art reproduction. Framing option: wooden frame with a matte black finish. Each piece is completely backed and comes with a picture wire, ready for hanging. Small Prints: Image Size: 7" x 9.375", Matted: 12" x 16", Framed: 13" x 17". Large Prints: Image Size: 16" x 22", Matted: 24" x 30", Framed: 25" x 31".

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by noname

Madeline and the Pirates -- VHS Tape -- Inspired by books by Ludwig Bemelmans -- 1999

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by Andy Heyward

When the French schoolgirls prepare sandwiches for the imperious Lord Koo-Kooface, even they can't stomach the results. Let's just say "everything" doesn't mean lettuce, tomato, and onions here. So the chairman of the Board of Trustees foots the bill for classes at the Cordon Rouge with Chef Flambé. Needless to say, Madeline dresses her chicken as a doll and sets a few crustaceans free, and the good chef literally gets egg on his face before the girls learn to whip up exquisite croissants, soufflés, and Beef Wellington for their final project. But soft-hearted Madeline gives her chicken away to some hungry street children and forgoes her diploma, until the all-knowing Miss Clavell figures it out. This installment of the series based on Ludwig Bemelmans's classic books hits the right balance of mischief and lessons learned. --Kimberly Heinrichs

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by Andy Heyward

It's Christmas Eve in Paris and 11 of the girls in two straight lines, as well as their beloved Miss Clavel, are sick in bed. Madeline, everyone's favorite smallest one, is the only one left standing and so she bravely gives up her chance to go home for Christmas in order to bring tea and tissues to her friends. When the old house covered with vines is also covered with snow thanks to a storm, it looks like the holiday won't be very merry until the girls' own Christmas angel shows up to make things right. Based on Ludwig Bemelmans's book, the story and little-girl French accents couldn't be more charming. --Kimberly Heinrichs

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

Madeline's three most popular adventures in complete, unabridged miniature editions, are packaged in a replica of the famous "old house in Paris that was covered with vines." The attractive box includes Madeline, Madeline's Rescue, and Madeline and the Bad Hat and has a convenient carrying handle so children can take Madeline with them wherever they go.* A Puffin Boxed Set* Full-color illustrations* Ages 3-8

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

If there is such a thing as a comfort food book, Bemelmans stories are it. His evocative tales of a grand hotel life have a reporter's eye for sensory detail, yet he always manages to bathe his world and it's lovable characters in the mood for a fairytale. Meet the girl-hungry hotel Magician, Kalakobe the African cook, Mr Sigsag, Monsieur Victor, Mespoulet, and an unforgettable cast of down but not yet out hotel employees. This book offers a feast of food writing. And once you've read one Bemelmans tale, you fall in love and want to read the lot.

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by Ludwig Bemelmans

Madeline, in all her incarnations over six decades, has remained first and foremost one of "twelve little girls in two straight lines" in an old house in Paris. Now, with news that will astound her many fans, not to mention Madeline herself, she and her 11 cohorts find themselves on their way to Texas, U.S.A. Madeline a wealthy cowgirl? Why not! She handles her marvelous windfall with her usual aplomb, donning denim and boots to hop aboard a horse for a tour of her newly inherited gold mines, stampeding cattle herds, and gushing oil fields. At the end of the day, Miss Clavel prepares to tuck 12 little girls into bed--but wait... there are only 11! Where's Madeline? Traditionalists need not fear that wealth will corrupt their favorite little orphan. Some surprises are still in store, even for Madeline. While sorting through his grandfather's files, artist and writer John Bemelmans Marciano discovered the manuscript and pencil sketches for this last of the much-loved Madeline series. With great respect, Marciano completed the project with full-color paintings, and added two more of Bemelmans's holiday classics--"The Count and the Cobbler" and "Sunshine"--to create a collection no Bemelmans and Madeline devotee can do without. (Click to see a sample spread. Copyright 1999 by Barbara Bemelmans, Madeline Bemelmans, and John Bemelmans Marciano. Used by permission of Scholastic Inc.) (Ages 4 to 8--or all ages, of course) --Emilie Coulter

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