"In an old house in Paris, that was covered in vines, lived 12 little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed. They left the house at half past nine, the smallest one was Madeline." My grandmother bought this book for me when I was in preschool and it has always been one of my favorites. She also gave me the Madeline doll along with it. She used to read it to me all the time and told me it was one of her favorite books growing up. She also told me it was one of my mom's favorites. This made it extra special for me knowing it was my mom and grandmother's favorite books!
By the time I was 5, I had this book memorized word for word and basically page by page. I would then try reading it to my grandmother, but really I was just memorizing it. She caught me a couple times when I read a couple lines on the wrong pages. When I graduated from kindergarten, my grandmother gave me a Madeline book that had six stories in it. I thought this was awesome. I loved all the different stories and variations of Madeline. They then came out with a Madeline TV show.
From the time I entered school, I was always one of the shortest in my class. Madeline was the littest out of the bunch of the bunch of girls, so I felt a connection to her. Even though she was the smallest, she had a big voice and heart and stood out. She also caused quite a bit of mischeif, so these stories were interesting for me to read. The illustrations in the Madeline books were different from the other books. They are more like colored sketches and water paint. I really enjoyed these books growing up and still do today
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ReplyDeleteJenna, I loved this book too! I love how you started the post with the beginning lines from the book. I think that is what everyone still remembers about this book. I too had the 6 book set, doll, and use to pretend I could read these books because I memorized the opening lines. These books were the ones that made me want to read. I remember putting that big 6 story book on my lap, turning the pages, and reading. Great pick!
ReplyDeleteI was a big fan of the Madeline books as well! And like Alycia said, I think the opening lines are most memorable for me. My older sister introduced the book to me and would read the stories to me and eventually I read them too. I had the Madeline doll and remember acting out the stories with other dolls and stuffed animals that I had. I would line them up in "two straight lines" and have them do the things that all of the girls did!
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