Madeline's Rescue

I have actually spent much time in the past year teaching this book to classes of Kindergarteners. I remember enjoying Madeline as a little girl, and wondered how young children now would respond to this book. I can only say this: They LOVE it. A school full of girls, one of which almost dies but is rescued by a dog who eventually has puppies? Yeah, I can't see that going over badly. Even little boys love it. I mean, there's a cool dog. I can't wait until I can use it in a classroom again!

Though written in the 1950s (1954 Caldecott Winner), this story is relevant and enjoyable for children. The lines are written in verses that rhyme, but a reader has to be careful not to become too sing-songy when reading aloud. In the small experience I've had with this book, it is great for choral or echo reading (esp. madeline's lines) and acting out. When I was working with this book and Kindergarteners, I was working for an organization that promoted the enjoyment of reading for young learners. From their suggestions, I actually read this book twice in a row with my 5 year olds. The first time through, I paused a few times to ask brief questions, and make my own comments. The second time through, the students were better prepared to ask their own questions and answer some tougher ones from me. About 3/4 of the way through the book, I stopped reading aloud and we dramatized the end as a class. This is so much fun!

The story itself follows a pattern at times, but at others is completely unpredictable. The first page is full of writing, but the second and third pages are only one drawn-out sentence. I have to admit, the beginning of the book is a little scary, and even I drew a deep breath at the words on the page. For six pages of illustrations, there is only one long sentence: "Poor Madeline would now be dead/But for a dog/That kept its head,/And dragged her safe from a watery grave." Ah! One page ended with 'dead', and another ended with 'grave'! I definitely had forgotten that from my readings as a child and how thought it to be almost morbid when rereading it as an adult. I soon realized that the kids didn't think much of it, except that it added to the suspense. Before discussing the illustrations, I would like to add that this book is as much about the French culture as anything else. Madeline's all-girl orphanage, run by Miss Clavel, is set in 1950s Paris, using words such as 'gendarmes', which I had to look up when rereading it (the French police). Bemelman writes in rhyme, but is not afraid to have larger words in his children's book, or larger issues - possible death by drowning and even heartbreak when the dog (named Miss Genevieve) is kicked out of the orphanage/school by the board of inspectors (one of whom is named Lord Cucuface - ha, how'd he come up with that?). At one point, the word 'vengeance' is even stretched out like "VEN-GE-ANCE", which I found hard to pronounce with those separations. Something else I noticed is that Bemelman is also fond of the hyphen in his writing.

As for the illustrations, this is definitely a Caldecott winner. The structure of the illustrations were somewhat foreign to me when I first looked through them. Some pages seem to be colorfully drawn with great detail, and others are simply yellow pages with outlines of people. I couldn't even figure out his pattern for switching his technique! And then I realized that Ludwig Bemelman has created a world based on one color: yellow! On the pages when the people are the most important focus, the background is all yellow and the characters are outlined in black for emphasis. On the other hand, when the background is equally important or the illustration has to span more distance, more care is taken in setting the scene, though yellow is almost always a predominant color. In these more detailed pictures, readers can probe into the illustrations, examining the whatever scene it happens to be in 1950s Paris. Pages 10-11 depict a scene of buildings and townhouses in the background, a pedestrian bridge off to the side, and the gendarmes/street artists in the foreground. What a wonderful place to be - I wish I was there! And still, the pattern I thought I had found to Bemelman's illustrations does not seem to be completely accurate. At one point, the girls set out looking for Miss Genevieve, looking high and low throughout the city. Most city illustrations would be very detailed, saving the basic pictures (people-centered) to be in yellow and black, but page 37 proves me wrong as the city is painted in yellow and black, reminding me of a page from Where's Waldo? These turned out to be great pages to have kids look for Genevieve themselves while listening to the story. The detailed cover is even great for predictions, and shows up again later in the story, connecting predictions to the actual story.

Overall this is a very smartly-illustrated children's book that also lends itself to great classroom discussions!