Madeline and the Gypsies

Ludwig Bemelmans was an Austrian author, an internationally known gourmet, and a writer and illustrator of children's books. He is most noted today for his Madeline books, six of which were published from 1939-1961. A seventh was discovered after his death and published posthumously in 1999.... Bemelmans was born to the Belgian painter Lambert Bemelmans and German Frances Fischer in Meran, Austria-Hungary . His father owned a hotel. He grew up in Gmunden on the Traunsee in Upper Austria. His first language was French and his second German. In 1904, his father left the family for Ludwig's governess. His mother Frances took Ludwig and his brother to her native city of Regensburg, Germany. Bemelmans had difficulty in school as he hated the German style of discipline. He was apprenticed to his uncle Hans Bemelmans at a hotel in Austria, but he reportedly shot and seriously wounded a waiter. Given the choice between being institutionalized and emigrating to the United States, he chose the latter. He spent the next several years working at hotels and restaurants in the US. In 1917, he joined the U.S.
more

Madeline is a children's book series written by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series and a live action feature film. The adaptations are famous for having the closing line, first uttered by actress Ethel... Barrymore in a play: "That's all there is; there isn't any more." The first book in the series, Madeline, was published in 1939. It proved to be a success, and Bemelmans wrote many sequels to the original during the 1940s and 1950s. The series continues to this day, written by Bemelmans' grandson John Bemelmans-Marciano. The story takes place in a Catholic boarding school in Paris. Contrary to popular belief, the girls are not orphans. In the first book in the series, Madeline's "papa" sends her a dollhouse when she is ill. Also, the girls all go to visit their parents in the Christmas book. The books all start with the line "In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines ". The story is written entirely in rhyme, and the simple themes of daily life appeal to children.
more