Madeline's Christmas

Originally appearing in 1956, as a small paperback pamphlet in the McCall magazine, and only making it to book form in 1986, when it was released as a hardcover picture-book, Madeline's Christmas is the sixth and final Ludwig Bemelmans Madeline story,** although the series has been continued by the author/artist's grandson, John Bemelmans Marciano. As such, it marks the end of my recent project, in which I undertook to read all the original Madeline books.

A brief tale - it is quite short, in comparison to its five predecessors - with full color artwork on every page, Madeline's Christmas opens as our eponymous heroine, the only one in the entire vine-covered Parisian boarding school who is not sick, is working hard to care for her show more fellow students, and for Miss Clavel. When a rug salesman knocks on the door, Madeline seizes the opportunity to make a purchase that will keep her ill friends and teacher warm, little realizing that she is dealing with a magician, and that an enchanted holiday journey, in which all of the girls will be reunited with their families for Christmas, is in store...

After really loathing Madeline and the Gypsies, I was happy to discover that, although not a personal favorite, Madeline's Christmas was fairly engaging. I think I prefer Bemelmans' full-color paintings, as opposed to his yellow and white ones, so I enjoyed the visuals here more than in previous books, although I think the way that Madeline is depicted (she's larger, and you see more of her face) is a little distracting. I found it interesting that we get to see Madeline at home with her parents - it's odd to me that so many people describe Madeline as an orphan, when she's just a little girl at boarding school - although the fantastic elements of the story did feel a little disjointed. All in all, an improvement on its immediate predecessor, one I would recommend to Madeline fans, particularly at the holidays. I think my favorite thing about it is the cover art...

**The short story Madeline in Texas, published both on its own, and in the collection Madeline In America And Other Holiday Tales, was discovered by John Bemelmans Marciano, who reworked and expanded it, making it more of a joint venture, than a proper Ludwig Bemelmans title. show less

This is one of my favorite Madeline books. The clunky rhyming that plagues this series isn't as bad in this one. The illustrations are a delight, as usual, and the cover art is stunning!

Madeline's Christmas is a pure delight. In this story, we see Madeline playing care taker since Ms. Clevel and the girls are all sick in bed at the boarding school on Christmas eve. Who knocks on the door late at night, but a carpet salesman who ends up being a magician. To reward Madeline for buying the last of his carpets, he uses his magic to help her with her chores and then fly Madeline and the girls off to their families via carpet for Christmas morning. Caring, Kindness, and Family are the real meaning of Christmas and life in general. That is clearly demonstrated in this story and done so beautifully.

This book was wonderful to read. I love the Madeline series and have read them since I was little. In this story, it is almost Christmas time, and everyone gets sick including Miss Clavel except Madeline. She takes care of everyone and buys rugs from a rug merchant to keep their feet warm. The rug merchant then realizes that he should not have sold his rug and he gets sick on his way back to Madeline's house. He ended up being a magician and cleans the dishes and sends the girls on the magic rugs to their families for Christmas Day!

Another great story to read to children around Christmas! Madeline and the rest of the girls go on adventure and surprise their parents on Christmas day with the help of a rug merchant who happened to be a magician! Madeline and girls had a wonderful Christmas.

Published after the author's death, it is a beautiful book. It gives a glimpse of how the author worked, as some pages are not refined as they would have been had he lived to complete it in his usual style. With Christmas near, in a houseful of sick kids and Miss Clavel, only Madeline is well. She takes charge. Artwork and rhyming prose are perfectly matched as always.

This is a pretty odd Christmas tale, with a magician/carpet seller who gets cold. It is not a classic like Madeline's Rescue, but it also isn't offensive like Madeline and the Gypsies.