Mad About Madeline: The Complete Tales
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'sMadelinewas first published in 1939, and its five sequels have all become classics. In Pulitzer Prize-winning journalistAnna Quindlen's introduction toMad About Madelineshe 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 findMadeline,Madeline and the Bad Hat,Madeline's Rescue,Madeline and the Gypsies,Madeline in London, andMadeline'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 makesMadelineperfect for reading aloud, and readers ages 6 and older will enjoy sounding out names such as Lord Cucuface.)--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.