This article was written by Jennifer Ciotta
In an old house in Paris
that was covered with vines
lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.
Austrian-born Madeline creator Ludwig Bemelmans penned these words each and every time he begun one of his children's books about this charming, yet tiny only in stature, redheaded French girl. The character of Madeline, named after Bemelmans' wife, carried on in a sweet and innocent in demeanor; however, the author maintained a much darker past. At the age of sixteen, young Ludwig apprenticed in a relative's restaurant, and had an unfortunate dispute with a waiter. Bemelmans' response was unmitigated, since he took out a gun and shot the waiter. Thus the author's parents shipped him to America, where he joined the U.S. Army and became a naturalized American citizen. Throughout the 1920's and 1930's, he established himself as a restauranteur and an illustrator/author. Similar to tales of numerous writers, Bemelmans suffered rejection by publishers and only achieved moderate success until his Madeline series of five books. In fact, he won the prestigious Caldecott Award in 1954 for Madeline's Rescue. After his death in 1962, the grandiose triumph of the Madeline series continued for decades, even with a cartoon series, narrated by the legendary Christopher Plummer. On television, little Madeline can still be seen every Saturday, while in libraries and bookstores, she is constantly checked-out or bought.
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