One of literature’s favorite little girls is turning 75! In honor of the 75th anniversary of Madeline‘s publication, an exhibit by New York Historical Society honors the character and her creator, Ludwig Bemelmans. This exhibit, which contains nearly 100 works, includes drawings from all six Madeline books, Bemelmans’ drawings of the old Ritz Hotel in New York, murals from a rediscovered Paris bistro, and panels from the Onassis yacht! For complete information, visit nyhistory.org.
The BBC asked Bemelmans’ grandson, John Bemelmans Marcian and curator Jane Curley who the real inspiration was for the little rebellious girl – and obtained two very different answers. The clip below is a great hook as an introduction to a bigger discussion about how issues are portrayed differently and how varied perspectives can be reported in the media.
Read: Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Madeline is one of the best-loved characters in children’s literature. Set in picturesque Paris, this tale of a brave little girl’s trip to the hospital was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1940 and has as much appeal today as it did then. The combination of a spirited heroine, timelessly appealing art, cheerful humor, and rhythmic text makes Madeline a perennial favorite with children of all ages.
The celebration of Madeline’s 75 birthday has sparked quite a few endearing memories among my children. Over their childhood years we collected Madeline T-Shirts, stickers, dolls, quotes and more. I was curious to know their thoughts about the Madeline books now that they are adults. In order to capture the memories as well as current thoughts of the Madeline stories, I decided to create a VoiceThread and ask the question, “What character traits of Madeline do you like? Is she an inspiration to you? What text-to-self text-to-self (highly personal connections) can you make with Madeline’s experiences and your own experiences or life?”
VoiceThread is an interactive tool that allows for collaborating, sharing, and commenting. VoiceThread is a free program that can be operated by students and easily monitored by teachers. It allows for uploading pictures, narration by the creator and commenting by other viewers in 5 different ways-including audio and text. It has revolutionized story telling and can be used by teachers in all subject areas to present and share information. VoiceThread can be used as a creation, discussion, and assessment tool.
In the VoiceThread below I included the video of a Madeline story. The VoiceThread below is publicly shared so you can use this VoiceThread or create your own VoiceThread for the classroom.
Additional Resources:
- An Art Exhibit Honors ‘Madeline’ by Anna Russell
- Madeline’s 75th Birthday Brings Revelations by Rocco Staino
- Making Connections: Text to Self, Text to Text, Text to World
- Madeline in New York: Bemelmans’ iconic schoolgirl on display as she turns 75
- Bemelmans Madeline
Please post your response to the question, “What character traits of Madeline do you like? Is she an inspiration to you? What text-to-self (highly personal connections) can you make with Madeline’s experiences and your own experiences or life?”
