The author has done a wonderful job with the material and subject matter. In the context of the world of Madeline, the lessons are direct and instructive while keeping in the same theme of entertaining a young child in the style of the remarkable Madeline. I have two little girls. The six-year-old is a big Madeline fan, as is her mother, and the other is just seven months. This book was a pleasant surprise for the eldeer child as a reward for a special success. We have included it in her bedtime reading list since, and though she knows the lines, it is a favorite. It also helps that my wife and I now have some examples to draw from for some everyday situations. It doesn't make a child into a "little angel " by itself (that would be another issue altogether). It does instruct by way of examples from a favorite character. Who could doubt Madeline?

My thanks to Mr. John Bemelmans Marciano for writing such a wonderful little gem! I would be happy to purchase another of these works. I think it will make a good gift for our nieces too...

My daughter, 20 months, received this book for Christmas. She was already a Madeline fan. She loves this book, and frequently says "Meeshee" (Merci) -- then she will tell me that is "finch!" (French). The rhymes are cute, the illustrations true in style to the original Madeline, and I am glad to see a humorous, fun book about manners for girls.

...

Marciano's Madeline Says Merci: The Always-Be-Polite Book is a welcome addition to the Madeline library. Its similarity to Bemelman's drawing and rhyming styles is almost uncanny, which makes for a breezy and charming read.

Admittedly, the subject matter--the many ways in which a child can be polite and express proper gratitude--often carries the tone of a politically correct lecture. But the message goes down easily when delivered by the "bad-hat" boy next door, Madeline's faithful dog, or Madeline herself. If you're unfamiliar with this children's-book character, this book is a worthy introduction--although the earlier books will show just how much Madeline doesn't follow her own rules of etiquette.

It's our great fortune that two books are published during the same month celebrating two of the finest children's book illustrators ever...Ludwig Bemelmans and Tomie dePaola (TOMIE DE PAOLA: HIS ART & HIS STORIES)! Both books are delights and will be enjoyed for hours and hours and hours...

As a great admirer of Bemelmans Madeline series,this book gave me insight to its creator. It is a beautiful book, well written and designed. A great tribute to a wonderful artist and writer. Truly a book that a Madeline fan would want!

Bemelmans grandson has done an outstanding job of putting together a comprehensive collection of his grandfather's works. The book includes a review of his adult and children's books, his artwork, and magazine covers, as well as a collection of never before seen photographs. It is colorful, fun, and interesting. If you are a Bemelmans fan you will love this book; if you are not, this is a great way to get started!

Thanks to the review of C. Carey Astrakhan, I decided to send for HOW TO TRAVEL INCOGNITO when I was looking for a way to lighten up life after the agonies of Sept. 11th. For me this book had just the right combination of elegant wit and breezy charm. It was refreshing to return to the calmness of 1950's Europe and to roam the world in a Rolls Royce, visiting castles, costume balls, casinos, and the tonier restaurants. The author, who wrote the MADELINE books for children, spent his early years working in a Ritz-Carlton Hotel and knew firsthand the ways of the aristocrats and spoiled rich. He saw their flaws, enjoyed their company, and commented on them with gentle astringency. One character tells another, for instance, that a wealthy woman had a cigarette case made specially for him so that she could have the pleasure of dictating to a jeweller. Ah, yes.

I carried a tattered copy of this book with me from Cape Cod to New York to Paris to Berlin to Athens and back for 6 years. I can't urge you strongly enough to take this magical journey with Ludwig Bemelmans through a Europe entirely lost to us -- a world which he captures as no one else -- not Scott Fitzgerald nor any of his sort -- could have hoped or dared to. You'll never tire of slumming your way across Europe under an assumed (Royal) identity, eating and drinking the very best that France has to offer -- all courtesy of Monsieur Le Comte de St. Cucuface, an aging, comically cash-poor French Count who was long ago reduced to feeding off the extravagant banquet tables of the "Continental Set". "How To Travel Incognito" is a wildly engaging adventure penned by a brilliant writer and world-class personality. Buy this book!

You don't get more authentic than this book when it comes to German cooking. You can definitely gain some weight reading this book!

As with all the Madeline books, this one is simply wonderful and an absolute joy to read! It is an absolutely delightful story, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves good books.

This was my favorite book as a child and should be back in print. The illustrations are lovely and the story quite moving about loyalty and friendship. It is a book that should be in every library and home. It is by the same author that wrote the Madeline books, but this story is even more touching and memorable.

Our two little girls, three and two years old, LOVE Madeline. Daddy reads them one story each night -- they always get to pick which. For Christmas they got two new books which are still almost unread, since every night they want Madeline! The stories are exciting, but gentle and sweet; they are moral but not preachy. And the poetry is wonderful! Also the stories are not too long for a tired parent's voice at bedtime. But with only two little ones of my own, I wonder how DOES Miss Clavel keep TWELVE little girls in two straight lines?

I just bought this for my 3 year old daughter as I wanted to introduce her to Madeline.

Madeline and Miss. Clavel (are) brilliantly brought to life in each of the six short stories. There are are bright, vivid pictures with not too many lines which hold the little one's attention (If the wonderful story lines didn't!)

My daughter and I are really pleased!

Though MAD ABOUT MADELINE weighs almost as much as our little girl did on her second birthday -- the day she was given this book -- there was no detering Emily from reading it. Comfortably situating herself on her tummy with the book propped up on a pillow, Emily did not stop turning the pages until she had reached the end, and uttered, "Uh-oh." Discovering the beauty of an appendix scar in one book, to the thrill of walking the tightrope in another, and feeling the sadness at the loss of Genevieve in yet another, our daughter was mesmerized with Madeline. Madeline is good, but not without being curious and even sometimes mischievous. She is clever and determined, but never at the expense of proper reverence. She is a wonderful character whose personality endears her to both children and adults alike. Madeline is a must -- she inspires and she entertains -- and you can't help but be "Mad About Madeline!"

I missed the Madeline books completely when I was a child, so my daughter and I discovered them together. It's an education seeing Madeline through her eyes. In Madeline, my daughter, who is somewhat shy and leery of new experiences, has a heroine who is smart, spunky, and completely in control of every situation.

I like Madeline the character a lot more than I like the books. I've found that very few writers can write wonderful verse, and I don't include Bemelmans in that august company. Some of his rhymes flow nicely together, such as the opening lines of the first book:

In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. Some of his rhymes are jarring:

and soon after Dr. Cohn came, he rushed out to the phone, and he dialed : DANton-ten-six --

'Nurse,' he said, 'it's an appendix!' Everybody had to cry --

not a single eye was dry. . . . Madeline woke up two hours

later, in a room with flowers.

Still, the story isn't bad. A brave little girl is rushed to the hospital, has her appendix out, then shows off her scar. She makes it so exciting that all the other girls want their appendix out, too. Even my daughter wanted to have an appendix scar, until I explained just what that would entail.

A short children's story about a young girl who lives with eleven other girls in a home in Paris and who has to go to the hospital to have her appendix removed. It was a 1940 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustration in a book for children. This book, and others in the Madeline series, have become classics in children literature and every serious student of children literature should have it on their shelves. Children love these books.

Although "Madeline" probably needs no introduction, this classic story set in Paris is about a Miss Clavel and twelve little girls. The smallest girl is Madeline, who is brave and does not even get scared of a lion in the zoo. Madeline scares Miss Clavel when one night she... Ludwig Bemelmans does a great job of corresponding the illustrations to the content of the story. The scene where Madeline is saying "pooh-pooh" to the lion, it has more color than other pages making it exciting. The illustrations compliment the plot and setting of the story by giving each page a mood that helps create the story. The rythem and humor in this book will appeal to most children. I found when reading it to my daughter we both giggled at the many rhymes which Ludwig Bemelmans chose as the characteristic to tell this story in. I would reccomend this book for readers at the preschool age up to age eight or so. For the younger reader it has a great rythem and illustrations that keep the eye interested. For the older reader the story is equally interesting with a slight hint of suspence. Ludwig Bemelmans drawing's of the Opera, Notre Dame in the rain and of the children playing in the Luxembourg gardens give a classic picture of Paris. The illustrations coupled with the easy flow of the story and rhyme will allow this book to be enjoyed in a timeless fashion! DawnENGL340 at SJC

This was a fun book. However, all Madeline fans will finish quickly with this book. However, it comes with the story, "Madeline," the first one. The crossword was totally easy. It was pretty fun though. It has some scenes. You can put the stickers on. They're REUSABLE too! That's the part that saves this book from being "too easy."

We purchased this activity book to help keep our toddler entertained during a plane flight, and it was perfect. There are about 50 reusable vinyl stickers that can be placed on four scenes -- two-page spreads showing the park in summer and in winter and two one-page views of the Eiffel tower area and Madeline's hospital room. The stickers feature Madeline, the other girls, Miss Clavell and Pepito in various attires and performing a variety of activities, miscellaneous characters from the Paris milieu, and accessories like balloons, a kite and a snowman. The book also contains the complete Madeline poem by Ludwig Bemelmans, simple instructions on how to draw Madeline herself and one each of a hidden word, fill-in-the-blank, matching, hidden picture, maze and crossword puzzle as well as one page for coloring. Very nice little activity book.

My Mom brought this little gem home with her from Paris, and my daughter (who was 3 at the time) loved it. You get the original "Madeline" story, plus lots of extras. A 'Colorform" section for peel-and-stick Madeline figures, plus an area to try and doodle Madeline yourself. Help Madeline get Geneveive through a maze. This quick little activity book is just long enough for a young mind with a short attention span.

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.