Madeline In America And Other Holiday Tales - Hardcover

Ludwig Bemelmans; John Bemelmans Marciano

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0590039105 ISBN 13: 9780590039109

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books, 1999

Synopsis

Featuring a brand new story, two delightful holiday tales, family reminiscences, and artwork selected from the family archives, the first new Madeline book in fifteen years brings to life the beloved red-headed heroine as she embarks on an amazing adventure in America. 125,000 first printing.

About this title

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2-A collection of three stories, only one of which includes Madeline. In "Madeline in America," from Ludwig Bemelmans's manuscript and pencil sketches, the young orphan goes to Texas to check out her inheritance from her great-grandpapa. After a few western adventures, the will is read; upon learning that her wealth will come to her on her 21st birthday, she returns to Paris with Miss Clavel. "The Count and the Cobbler" tells of a poor shoemaker whose youngest son inadvertently enables the man to afford shoes for his family. "Sunshine," set in New York City, tells of a grouchy old landlord and his problems with his tenant, a music teacher. The latter two stories are both "taken from the author's archives." Although the illustrations are quite typically Bemelmans and have that well-known charm, the rhyming and rhythm of the text are forced and the stories fall flat. This oversized volume will no doubt be purchased by many consumers lured by the "look," but the stories are disappointing. Large libraries will want it, but it's no "Madeline" masterpiece.
Lisa Falk, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Alas, this seems like ersatz MadelineAbut try telling that to the hordes of Madeline fans who will clamor for it. As a note explains, during the 1950s Bemelmans drafted a Madeline adventure set in Texas at Christmas and featuring the department store owned by his friend Stanley Marcus; a version was passed out to Neiman-Marcus customers, and Bemelmans abandoned the project. Here his grandson supplies his own color illustrations for the discarded text; the quantum difference between Bemelman's offhand genius and the product here is revealed with a simple comparison of sketches drawn by Bemelmans, reproduced on the back of the jacket, with the extrapolations inside. The text, clearly a work in progress, splices together a story line from Madeline and the Gypsies with a cowboy motif and a big promotion for "the world's greatest store"; the heroine, inheriting a Texas-size fortune, seems unlike the "real" Madeline ("And there'll be no more school, that is the best part./ For who is rich is already smart," opines this impostor). Two other Bemelmans tales with Christmas settings are also included, with art similarly refurbished by Marciano. Ages 5-8. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590039105
• ISBN 13: 9780590039109
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 112