One of my favorite series of childhood stories was the collection of tales about Madeline, who lived with twelve little girls in an old house in Paris. In each story,
It is a great sadness that a witty and graceful prose stylist like Ludwig Bemelmans should today be remembered primarily for his children s books about Madeline. His works should be in every bookstore, somewhere near Waugh and Thurber, and studied by anyone who wants to learn how to put a sentence together without any nails.
Still, to have a degree of immortality is a blessing, and today there are little girls (and some boys) all over the world who can recite for you the opening lines of Bemelmans first book about Madeline: In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines, Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.