As the title indicates, "Mad About Madeline: The Complete Tales" has the virtue of providing all six of Ludwig Bemelmans stories about the irrepressible Madeline, who first made her appearance way back in 1939. There is also an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anna Quindlen; an essay by Bemelmans on how he invented Madeline entitled "The Isle of God"; and never-before-published photographs of the Bemelmans family and working sketches of Madeline. I was rather surprised to learn Madeline was celebrating her 60th birthday and even more surprised to learn these stories were not originally written and published in France (I thought it was obvious they were).
Ludwig Bemelmans was actually born in 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. A world traveler and true cosmopolite, Bemelmans wrote and illustrated "Madeline" in 1939, naming his most popular creation for his wife, Madeleine Freund. They had a daughter named Barbara, who would provide inspiration for some of the six Madeline books. In addition to the rhyming descriptions of "the old house in Paris that was covered with vines" and the "twelve little girls in two straight lines," for me the chief attraction were the Paris scenes that Bemelmans worked into his stories. He takes full advantage of the complete palette when he does most of those scenes. Plus, children like him because he colors outside the lines, just like they do.
"Madeline" (1939) is still the best of the bunch, as we learn that Madeline might be the smallest one of the twelve girls, but she "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. 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 they would like to think that they would be as brave and show off the scar on their stomach with as much ?lan as Madeline (5 Stars).
In "Madeline and the Bad Hat" (1956) the Spanish Ambassador moves into the house next door. Miss Clavel is excited to see that His Excellency has a boy, but Madeline knows as soon as she sees him that Pepito is a Bad Hat (a colloquialism for an unscrupulous person) and his actions prove her right. Miss Clavel finally decides that Peito needs an outlet for his energy, and so she gets him a chest of tools. But Pepito builds himself a guillotine and while we do not actually see it in action the device is clearly used to cut the heads off of the chickens the cook is preparing for dinner. Pepito clearly deserves a comeuppance and what is surprising is not that he gets one, but that it is rather painful and the former Barbarian is reformed (4 Stars).
"Madeline's Rescue" (1951) is more about Madeline's rescuer, the dog that rescues her from the river. Miss Clavel and the other girls take Madeline and the dog home, but there is a fight among the girls as to where the dog should sleep. The dog, named Genevieve, proves to be clever and everybody is happy for six months. Then comes the day of the annual inspection by the trustees, and these wretched people order Miss Clavel to get rid of "it." This is where we learn that we were wrong about the title, because it is not about the rescue OF Madeline but the rescue BY Madeline, Miss Clavel, and the other girls. For it is Madeline who jumps on a chair and declares: "Miss Genevieve, noblest dog in France, You shall have your VEN-GE-ANCE!" (5 Stars).
"Madeline and the Gypsies" (1958-59) has Pepito inviting the twelve little girls over a Gypsy Carnival. A cloudburst sends everybody home, but when the girls are tucked into bed Miss Clavel discovers that Madeline is missing. This is because at the top of the Ferris Wheel, stuck in the rainstorm, are Pepito and Madeline. He climbs down to get aid and the Gypsy Mama, with the aid of the strong man and the clown, get Madeline to safety, and take the children with them when the carnival leaves town for a grand adventure (riding circus horses instead of going to school), that is, until Miss Clavel finds them (4.5 Stars).
"Madeline in Londo, (1961) has everybody going to London to visit Pepito in his new home. There they find a birthday present for Pepito, and then take a tour of London town. This time there is no need for Miss Clavel to wake up in the middle of the night or run fast and faster to some new disaster, because the disaster has to do with Pepito's present for which Miss Clavel is not responsible (4 Stars).
"Madeline's Christmas" was originally published as a special book insert in the 1956 Christmas edition of "McCall's" magazine, is in full color, and is really little more than a Christmas card from Bemelmans. The story seems at first like it might be a take off on "The Night Before Christmas," but it turns out that everybody in the house is in bed with cold except for brave little Madeline, who is taking care of everybody. When a rug merchant shows up with 12 rugs to sell, she buys them so everybody in the house will not have to put their feet on the cold floor when they get out of bed. However, the merchant is also a magician (3 Stars).
This is one of those times when the individual ratings become accumulative, because having all six of the original Madeline stories in one volume, plus the extras, totally justifies five stars overall.
