Madeline, the first of a series of books about an adventurous little French girl, was originally written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans in 1939. Almost seventy years later, Bemelmans’ grandson, John Bemelmans Marciano, continues the family tradition by publishing Madeline and the Cats of Rome. We’re buying this one for all the small Rome-antics in our lives.
Though the author Marciano never met his famous grandfather, he did write and pubublish published his nonno’s biography, Bemelmans: The Life and Art of Madeline’s Creator. While sorting through his grandfather’s personal papers in preparation for that book, Marciano discovered unpublished illustrations and pencil drawings that led him to illustrate and complete the holiday stories in Madeline in America, a book he published in 1999. And, he also used those drawings to turn Madeline into a good-etiquette advocate in Madeline Says Merci.
Now, with Madeline and the Cats of Rome, he’s produced the first full-length story book about Madeline since the death of his grandfather, sending the individualistic Parisian girl to Rome where she chases down a wild-haired urchin who steals the camera of her teacher, Miss Clavel.
Time Out New York recently reviewed the Madeline in Rome book saying:
The lively gouaches of Madeline and the Cats of Rome demonstrate that it’s okay to color outside the lines: The girls’ canary-yellow hats and pink ribbons, usually thickly outlined in black, appear here and there as impressionistic dashes of pigment. The Italian sun, not content to shine in the background, seems to hang in the middle of the piazza, playfully set off by festive lavender swirls.
A romp through the Eternal City, cats lounging on and around iconic monuments, and an Italian sun sparkling atop a piazza? We’re sold.
