Erica Jane Schuder English 385, Section 5 Clemson University December 7 , 2000

Bemelmans, Ludwig. Madeline's Rescue. New York: Viking Press, 1953. One day, Madeline, the smallest and most daring girl in a French boarding school, falls in the river and a dog, Miss Genevieve, comes to her rescue. Each girl in the school adores Miss Genevieve when she comes to live with the girls. The headmasters unfortunately find the dog in the girls' room during an inspection and Miss Genevieve must leave. After a long search for the dog with no results, the girls return home disappointed, and to their surprise, Genevieve shows up with a new litter of puppies for the girls to share. The whole book intrigues and keeps attention because of the way Bemelmans has designed the images and pictures. The book itself relies on the illustrations that accompany the text. Starting with the title page, the title shown in large letters at the top of the page. The author and illustrator's names appear smaller at the bottom of the page. The first and last pages of the book show a picture of the girls' school in a frame, as if we were looking in from the outside. The frame around the outside focuses attention on the center of the page. Bemelmans uses yellow backgrounds with people and objects drawn in black outlines for of the book. Yellow contrasts well with the black used in the outlines, and this makes yellow a good bright background color. A couple of the pages have other brighter colors. These pages have darker, deep blues and reds. They are used for the sad times in the story, like when Madeline falls in the river and is sick and when the girls are looking for the lost dog. One full-page picture in the book centers on a part of the story when Madeline jokingly, falls in the river, and the dog first comes to her rescue. The whole story actually begins at this exciting event. The words and their placement in the book also have an important position in the story. All the words run along the bottoms of the page, where the eyes naturally read. The sentences all flow together because of their placement. The story does not become choppy, as if the words jumped all over the pages. Also, the words rhyme, which makes the story more fun and natural to read. At one point in the story, the words do not rhyme: at the introduction of Miss Genevieve. Maybe the author is trying to point out the introduction of another main character. The reader should realize that special attention should be brought to this detail. All together, the words and illustrations in the book work together to make a natural, flowing, fun story. They help to point out the importance of certain events in the story.

I think that this book was a really great book for little kids, It tells how people can be scared of things that can happen. This book was a book that had a really nice lesson in it, and I think that it would most likley be a book that mothers, fathers, ect. can read together with their kids, and enjoy it at the same time. Madeline learned her lesson not to walk on the ledge of the bridge when she fell into the water and almost drowned. If it wasn't for the dog that saved her, she would of not lived! That is why I think that you should read this great book, and you will love it. This is an adventurous book, with lots of picture's and details. The dog who's name is Genevieve was a stray dog, and he was also the one who saved her. He soon after became her bestfriend. All the girls in the school all try to keep the dog from getting taken away from Madeline, even the nun that watched Madeline and the other girls sticked up for the dog. The inspectors came in and tried to take the dog away from the girls, and they were so upset. At the end, they got to keep the dog, and it was a very happy ending. When the author wrote this book, I think that he was thinking about the friendship that someone can have for an animal of any kind, or a person. This book shows alot of that. The kids will also love the surprise ending to the story, because I knoqw that I did. When I read the story, I could not put down the book, not even for one second. This was a great book, and I know that you will love it, and that is why you should get it.

Madeline's Rescue, with stories and pictures by Ludwig Bemelmans, is just one of the many adored Madeline books published before. The book having darling characters such as Ms.Clavel, Madeline, and Lord Cucuface is wonderful to read to children having their full-out attention with humorous situations that Madeline usually leaps herself into.
As always, in the beginning, Madeline and her fellow orphans leave the house in Paris, "in two straight lines, in rain or shine." The day takes a twist as Madeline falls into the Seine. But before Madeline met her fate, a dog came and saved her. The girls beg to keep the dog, and Ms.Clavel says its ok. They name it Genevieve. It acted almost as one of the girls. "She could sing and almost talk, and enjoyed their daily walk." Although frowns come upon the little girls faces as the collection of trustees came for the annual inspection. They were not pleased with the dogs and shooed him away quickly. With bravery Madeline declares a search for the dog.
The book keeps children's emotions high as Madeline is saved, but then the dog gets taken away. Its cute and I think even parents enjoy reading various Madeline books.

Although my daughter and I love Madeline, this particular book was disturbing. Miss Clavel buys Pepito some tools to give him "an outlet for his energy" and he builds a guillotine to decapitate chickens! He turns a cat loose in the midst of a pack of dogs and is then attacked by the dogs, resulting in a visit from the doctor. In the end, of course, Pepito changes his ways. But it in no way compensated for the fact that the majority of the story was, at best, dark. I don't tend to be faint of heart when it comes to literature, but this was not appropriate for my 4-year-old.

Pepito, the boy in this book has a change of heart and goes from being unkind to animals to caring for them. It is a good story. As far as it being "dark" as another reviewer said,well,does that reader eat chickens? That's what Pepito was doing before he learned a new way to live with the animals he came to love.

My daughter and I really loved this book! The rhythm of this Madeline book is especially good. It highlights Madeline's courageous, assertive personality as well as her compassionate intuition! A great match with the Madeline movie with Hatty Jones with follows a similiar plot line and is also a family favorite. Enjoy!

My four-year old daughter received this book as a gift. It is very cute, but I found the outfits and other accessories extremely difficult to cut out.

This booklet will be a delight both to fans of Madeline and paper doll collectors alike. The colors are vivid and true to the book illustrations. Madeline and her neighbor Pepito have outfits and accessories for play, dress-up, stormy weather, the circus, and nightime. And of course, Madeline's trademark blue coat and yellow hat are included. There is even an armoire to store the clothes and dolls when not in use. The pieces are large enough for children to handle but have enough detail to please the paper doll collector. This booklet is so cute you may not want to cut it up at all!

Bemelmans' account of his trip to Ecuador in the 30's is not only very readable material, amusing and instructive, but can be considered the first example of what we now call "magical realism."

His narrative of his multiple encounters in South America as the second world war was developing in its initial stages clearly exemplifies the difficulties for reality to adapt itself to a fast changing world.

Much more than a travel book, "The Donkey Inside" (forbidden in Ecuador when it first appeared there, back in 1941) is also a powerful tool to understand a very conflictive period in that country's history.

Pedro Saad Ecuadorian Historian

The book is a charming and witty evocation of the gourmet world of Ludwig Bemelmans. The collection of essays, accompanied by the author's illustrations and interspersed with menus acquired throughout the world, carries us behind the scenes at some of the world's finest restaurants, to the table with gourmets of all types, and into the gastronomic imagination of the author of the Madeline series. If you want to experience a distant era of luxury, elegance and overindulgence, from a perspective laced with delight and satire, you will be thoroughly delighted.

Madeline's Rescue is about a little french school girl who gets rescued by a dog after she falls into the seine (river). The school teacher allows the kids to bring the dog back to the school boarding house. The trustees however, upon their annual inspections, throws the dog out. The kids and the teacher then goes out to look for the dog, finds him, and gets a great surprise. Caldecott Award winner.

This book was purchased for my 3 yr old granddaughter for Christmas, as she had already fallen in love with Madeline, and especially Miss Clavell. Each page not only pops up, but also has pull tabs to allow the figures movement. A favorite part is when Madeline goes to the hospital to have her appendix removed, murmuring, "I can do anything. I can do anything..." What better praise that when my graddaughter had to go to the hospital over Christmas, and, afraid, she closed her eyes and said, "I can do anything. I can do anything..." Happily back home, she asks me to read this favorite book to her every day, a little girl who found courage from another little girl, Madeline.

In this age of U.S. cultural diversity, we have achieved some level of tolerance and respect for most racial, ethnic and religious minorities. But the Romany people--or Gypsies--who are now losing more people in Eastern Europe to hate-related murder than at any time since the Holocaust--have not been heard: Even in America, most people know nothing of the Romany history, which included enslavement, and resultant poverty and misfortune. "Classics" like this one teach intolerance by playing on the common stereotype of Gypsies as fortune-tellers, thieves and kidnappers. Please think twice before buying a book that inflicts such a stereotype on others. Alyssa A. Lappen

This book features all our favorite Madeline characters, in a flight of fantasy that has them caught up in a Gypsy circus. The story is fun, some of the rhymes a little strained, but is the illustrations that make this book such a pleasure for readers of all ages. The only risk with this book is that you may be called on to read it again and again by your young audience.

I never read Madeline books as a child and was captivated by them when I started reading them to my child. I was very excited to make this book a part of my holiday book collection. However I should have read this one before buying!This one makes no sense, its hardly about Christmas at all and the usual charming rhymes are not there. Check this one out at the library before buying!

Madeline, Madeline's Rescue, and Madeline and the Gypsies are all fine books, but Madeline's Christmas is a dud. It doesn't have the same cadence as the others, and the plot is not as appealing.

It's not so much the story here as the activities! It has reuseable vinyl characters (like Colorforms) that kids can use to create their own stories--tons of games and holiday worksheets. I must disclose that I own a bookstore that stocks this title, but I am VERY selective about the items I stock--especially for kids. Enjoy!