ANNOTATION

With everyone else sick in bed with a cold on Christmas Eve, it is up to Madeline to run the school, and she finds a remarkable helper in a rug-selling magician.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

What would every little girl like to find under the tree? Her very own Madeline doll, decked out in a bright red Christmas coat and hat and a tartan party dress. And there is a copy of Madeline's Christmas to read, too. With a handsome package and attractive price, this Madeline's Christmas Book and Doll set makes an ideal holiday present for any fan of Madeline-or any girl who appreciates a special doll.

Author Biography: Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) was the author and illustrator of the six Madeline books.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Madeline joined the company of story immortals in 1939, when Bemelmans introduced the lion-hearted French child to the world. The original and five sequels excited critical raves, awards and an international readership. Now the sixth saga, reprinted from a McCall's magazine feature, will be offered as a book. On Christmas Eve, the old house in Paris, covered with vines, is also swarming with germs. Miss Clavel and her charges, except Madeline, are downed by the flu. So the littlest of the 12 girls nurses the ailing ones but a mysterious caller arrives with the promise of turning a sad Yuletide into an adventure. Madeline buys 12 rugs from the turbaned visitor and tucks them around the chilly invalids until she discovers that the covers are more than comforting. They are magic. They take Madeline and her friends on a wonderful flight, bringing back the joys of the season. (38)

Publishers Weekly

Other good things come in book packages. Madeline's Christmas Book and Doll boxes up a copy of Ludwig Bemelmans's Madeline's Christmas plus a 7" toy Madeline. The doll wears a festive red coat and hat.

Children's Literature

Bemelmans' tiny heroine is the only person in the old house covered with vines who still feels well this Christmas season; everyone else has a cold. A knock at the door isn't Santa Claus but someone equally welcome—a rug merchant. Madeline buys all of his rugs to warm her housemates' feet. Alas, the merchant is now cold and returns to be doctored by Madeline. It turns out he is also a magician, and turns the rugs into flying carpets to fly the girls home to their families for Christmas. The story is a little disjointed and is more concerned with the magic than Madeline. Diehard fans of the series will still clamor for it anyway. This tale first appeared as a book insert in the 1956 Christmas edition of McCall's and was restored with the help of the Bemelmans family. 1999 (orig. 1956), Puffin/Penguin, and $5.99. Ages 3 to 8. Reviewer: Dr. Judy Rowen