By Ludwig Bemelmans
Published by Puffin Books
I believe that when a teacher loves a book, that admiration will be evident to their students, and that will in turn spark an interest (and hopefully an equally deep fondness) for the book as well.
For myself, the picture book Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelman, is one such book. This book is the cream of the crop for me, and I greatly look forward to the day that I have my own classroom and my own class to share it with.
Caldecott honor recipient Madeline, originally published in 1939 tells the story of a self assured girl named Madeline who lives in a boarding house with her fellow students under the supervision of their teacher, Miss Clavel. The girls visit many places in Paris and do everything together from breaking their bread to brushing their teeth to going to bed. That is of course until young Madeline has to be taken to the hospital late one night to have her appendix removed. Madeline is brave throughout the entire ordeal and her classmates miss her terribly. In fact, after visiting Madeline and seeing how brave she was, and that the hospital she was in was filled with toys and candy, all of the girls want to have their appendixes removed as well so they too can be as brave and cool as Madeline.
This picture book is just the first in a series of Madeline books, so any student that enjoys this will have a vast selection of other picture books to select from for further reading. The illustrations, story, and of course the main character, Madeline herself, have a certain appeal similar in my opinion to that of Hans Augusto’s character Curious George. People want to read about Madeline’s next adventure, in the same way that they want to read about Curious George’s. Both series began with their first stories published within two years of one another, around 1940, and have similarly colored illustration to paint a picture of their European adventures, with a lot of yellow backgrounds. The main difference between the two is that one has a young girl as its main character and the other has a monkey. Still, both series have the same tone and both have been engaging young readers (and readers that are young at heart) for decades, and I believe that to be the most important similarity between the two.
I will be honest in telling you that I had never read Madeline as a child. I was first introduced to Madeline as an adult. Paris is my favorite city in the entire world and knowing that this story takes place there was engaging for me. I fell instantly in love with every page of this picture book the first time I read it. Between its well written story and amazing illustration I understand now why it is a classic. Plus, the illustrations include pictures of various Parisian scenes including those of the Eifel Tower, Notre Dame, Luxembourg Gardens, Sacre Coeur and the Louvre, which to me is the icing on the cake.
Madeline is a prime example of a great picture most importantly because the illustrations match the text of the pages. Some of the vocabulary and phrasing may be slightly unfamiliar for a beginner reader and having the illustrations there to match the words is very helpful in following the story and reinforcing the ideas of the book.
This book is written in rhyme, as if one long poem. I especially like the ending of the story when Miss Clavel is tucking the rest of Madeline’s classmates into bed and the font size gets smaller and smaller as she speaks; you, as the reader have to you use a smaller and smaller voice to read those last few lines as well, as if you are putting the story to bed.
“Good night, little girls!
Thank the Lord you are well!
And now go to sleep!”
Said Miss Clavel.
And she turned out the light-
And she closed the door-
And that’s all there is-
There isn’t any more.
Madeline is an excellent example of a good picture book. I was viewing the pictures in my head as I read your post. I think it is especially evident that it is a good picture book because it is a Caldecott winner.
ReplyDeleteI, as well, think it is extremely significant for a teacher to have an evident love for a book they read to their students. It shows students how important books are and how much they can touch your soul. It will help them WANT to read.
I appreciated your connection with Curious George. I never saw it before now and I think that you could incorporate both series of books into your future classroom, Madeline is a high interest for the girls but to be fair, you could then go into Curious George for the boys. You could then even do an activity comparing the two series. I think book series are excellent resources for children. There is so much you can do with them, comparing each different story. That is something I realized with my story as well. I didn't even know that Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed had a series. But they have Five Little Monkeys Playing Hide and Seek, Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree, and more. Children like reading series because it has familiarity. That is important to a child, to feel connected with what they are reading.
Looking at picture books, I found that, in loving Paris, these pictures really spoke to you. And I found it especially interesting that you didn't have these feelings until adulthood! I find it to be very touching.