1954 - Madeline's Rescue

The seventeenth book to be awarded the Caldecott Medal was Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans, published in 1953 by Viking, now a part of Penguin.

Madeline's Rescue is the sequel to Bemelmans wildly successful 1939 book Madeline.  According to the biography on the book's back flap, he wrote this book for all the people who asked for a sequel, including a little girl who asked that he "Write something about a dog and Madeline."

When I was a child, Madeline's Rescue was one of my favorite books.  To be totally honest, I don't remember ever reading any other Madeline book, for most of my life I thought Madeline's Rescue was a standalone book.  It wasn't until her resurgence in the 1990's, which included the 1998 movie Madeline , that I learned about the other books. 

Madeline's Rescue takes us to the boarding school where Madeline is the smallest of the twelve little girls who live there.  One day, while the girls were out for a walk, Madeline, always fearless, was walking on the wall of a bridge when she falls into the river below.  It is a dog who swims out to her rescue and pulls her back to shore.  Madeline and the dog are rushed back to the school, where the dog is adopted by the girls and all is well, until the trustees show up and are not happy to find a new pupil of the canine persuasion.

Who was Ludwig Bemelmans?

Ludwig Bemelmans was born on April 27, 1898 in Meran, Austria-Hungray, now a part of Italy, where his father owned a hotel.  When he was eight years old, Bemelmans father left the family for his sons' governess, his mother moved him and his brother to her hometown Regensburg, Germany.

Bemelmans did not do well in school, failing out of many schools and private academies, and in 1912 he was sent to apprentice at his uncle's hotel in Austria.  While there, it was reported that Bemelmans shot and seriously wounded a waiter.  He was given the choice of reform school or emigrating to America, he chose to come to America in 1914.

After working in various hotels and restaurants, including the Ritz- Carlton,  Bemelmans joined the US Army in 1917, but because of his German origin, he was not sent to Europe.  Instead, he stayed in America working with German-speaking recruits and guarding military hospitals   He was an officer and was promoted to Second Lieutenant, all of this was recounted in his book My War with the United States.

In 1918, Bemelmans became an American citizen and he returned to the hotel and restaurant business.  During the 1920s, he attempted to become an artist and painter.  He created a cartoon series  The Thrilling Adventures of the Count Bric a Brac that was picked up by the New York World, but was dropped six months later.  Around this time he started associating with Ervine Metzl, an illustrator and graphic artist best known for his poster and postage stamp designs.

It was while he was working with Metzl that he met his wife, Madeline "Mimi" Freund, a model at Metzl's studio.  They married in 1935 and had one daughter, Barbara.

It wasn't until 1934 that he started writing.  A friend of his, who worked in publishing, noticed the whimsical paintings Bemelmans covered the wall of his apartment with and suggested he write a children's book.

Bemelmans met with May Massee, the children's book editor at Viking Press, and in 1934 published his first of fifteen children's books, Hansi, the adventures of two children and their dog in Austria.  In 1939, Madeline was published and made a Caldecott Honor Book.

Although best known for the Madeline books, Bemelmans wrote several adult books and a few movie scripts.  He claimed all of his books came from his own experiences since he had no imagination. His book My War with the United States,  was his first adult book and came from the diary he kept while serving in World War I. His other books came from his travels and his time working in the restaurant and hotel businesses.

In 1953, he fell in love with and bought a small bistro in Paris, La Colombe.  He owned it for two years, covering the walls in murals, before selling it to Michel Valette, who turned it into a famous cabaret.

The Carlyle Hotel in New York City is home to Bemelmans Bar, named for the mural Bemelmans painted on the walls, his only artwork on display to the public.  Aristotle Onassis hired Bemelmans to paint the children's dining room on his yacht Christina.

Ludwig Bemelmans died of pancreatic cancer in 1962 at the age of 64.  He is buried at Arlington National Cemetary.

The Illustrations

All the Madeline books start the same way:

"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines...the smallest one was Madeline."

What we learn about Madeline is that she was fearless.

"She was not afraid of mice.
She loved winter, snow and ice.
To the tiger in the zoo
Madeline just said, 'Pooh pooh!'"

This was what I loved most about Madeline, her fearlessness. To my seven year old mind, fearless was the best thing to be.

One day, while the twelve little girls were going on their walk, Madeline decided to walk on the wall of the bridge, just to give her teacher, Miss Clavel, a fright.

And, of course, the inevitable happened.

"Until the day she slipped and fell."

What comes next is a colorful two page spread of people either trying to rescue Madeline or who were startled by her fall.  This is one of those illustrations you take the time to study because each time you see something you hadn't noticed before.

There were the policemen who try to reach her with hooks, the artist who is startled when a fisherman accidentally sends his fish flying into his painting, and, of course, the hero dog. 

But it is a stray dog who comes to Madeline's rescue and drags her out of the river.

Miss Clavel carries Madeline home, with her little savior following closely.

Once inside, all the girls help to dry and warm both Madeline and the dog.

Madeline is sent to bed with some camomile tea to rest and warm up. Her new canine friend joins her under her warm blanket and all the girls are sent to bed.

But trouble arises after Miss Clavel turns out the lights and the girls fight over who gets to sleep with the dog.

The newest member of their school family was quite popular.  She was named Genevieve and even allowed to attend classes.

And she soon joined the girls on their daily walk.

But then a dark day came when these people darkened the doorstep of the girls' school.

Ugh...I hate these people.

The school's trustees arrived for their annual inspection.  They found Genevieve hiding under Madeline's bed and demanded they get rid of the dog.  Miss Clavel told them how much the girls loved her and begged them to change their minds.  But Lord Cucuface (the jerk on the right in the pictures above) claimed it was a disgrace and chased poor Genevieve out of the school.

And then comes my favorite part of the book. Madeline jumps up on a chair under the flags of France and declares:

"Lord Cucuface beware! Miss Genevieve, noblest dog in France, you shall have your VEN-GE-ANCE!"

With a single tear of determination, Madeline calls for vengeance

As soon as the trustees left, Miss Clavel and the girls took to the streets of Paris to find their beloved four-legged friend.

The pages that show the girls and Miss Clavel searching are some of the most fun pages to explore.  The city streets, a large market, and even a dog park are colorful illustrations full of small details you only find if you take the time to search.

I love how in the dog park pages, Bemelmans made the dogs match their owners in appearance and behavior.

But no matter where they went or how loud the called her name, they just couldn't find Genevieve.  And so they returned home, hours later and broken-hearted.

That night, Madeline stood in the window and called for Genevieve to return home.

In the middle of the night, Miss Clavel sat up in bed and turned on the light.  She knew something wasn't right and she checked outside to find Genevieve under the light of the street lamp.

Genevieve was welcomed back with pets and treats and a lot of love.  But once Miss Clavel sent the girls to bed and shut off the light, there was a fight over where Genevieve would sleep.  Miss Clavel heard the racket and hurried into the girls' room where she told them that if they were going to fight, Genevieve would have to leave.

Later that night, Miss Clavel was wakened again by one of her students.  She hurried down to the girls' room and found quite a surprise.

And now there were enough pups to go around!

When I was a kid, long after I was too old for his book, I still loved rereading it.  I loved the illustrations of the people trying to rescue Madeline, the streets and market while they were searching for Genevieve, and the dog park.  There was so much to see and every time you looked, you would see something new.

When I was really young, I wanted to be Madeline.  I wanted to be fearless and strong enough to stand up to an adult who told me I had to get rid of my dog.

Madeline has been criticized as being a brat and undisciplined.  No, what she is is a gutsy, strong, sassy, and determined.

I have spent a large part of my life in the book business in some way or another and one thing I hear a lot is "There are no strong female characters".  That statement pisses me off.  Seriously.  Madeline is a strong female character, as is the bunny in The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes, Princess Lenore in Many Moons, Anne Shirley in the Anne of Green Gables series, Jane Eyre, and more recently, Jennifer Strange in the The Last Dragonslayer: The Chronicles of Kazam, Book 1 series (do yourself a favor and look into that YA series by Welsh author Jasper Fforde).

So often,when people complain about finding a "strong female character", they equate that only with adventure books where the female character takes part in some form of violence.  You can be strong, compete, and be equal to boys without firing a gun, shooting an arrow, or using a knife.  The girls I listed above use their intellect, determination, imagination, wit, and, in some cases, their faith to show their strength.

Rereading Madeline's Rescue was a joy.  It is as fun and whimsical a story as I remember and the illustrations are just as pleasurable as they were the first time I saw them.



After Madeline's Rescue, Bemelmans would go on to write four more books about the smallest girl in Miss Clavel's school:

         

Madeline's Christmas was originally published in McCall's Magazine in 1956, it wasn't published in book form until 1985.

Another book was published in 1999, Madeline In America And Other Holiday Tales.  This series of short stories contains only one about Madeline, where she learns her great grandfather dies and leaves her a fortune.  Madeline, Miss Clavel, and the other girls all travel to America where they have a wonderful vacation.  Madeline is disappointed to learn she won't receive the money until she is 21 and so she returns to France with the others.  Supposedly, this story was found after Bemelmans death and wasn't published for over 30 years.

And his grandson, John Bemelmans Marciano, revived the Madeline series in 2001 with the book Madeline Says Merci: The Always-Be-Polite Book, which he followed with Madeline Loves Animals, Madeline and the Cats of Rome, Madeline at the White House, and Madeline and the Old House in Paris.

2014 was the 75th Anniversary of the publication of the original Madeline book.  Do yourself a favor and take a few minutes to watch this story CBS Sunday morning did on the beloved storybook character and her author.

1954 Caldecott Honor Books

Journey Cake, Ho! illustrated by Robert McCloskey, written by Ruth Sawyer
When Will the World Be Mine? illustrated by Jean Charlot, wrtitten by Miriam Schlein
Steadfast Tin Soldier illustrated by Marcia Brown, written by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by M.R. James
A Very Special House illustrated by Maurice Sendak, written by Ruth Krauss
Green Eyes (Family Storytime) by A. Birnbaum