Read to your Children & Around the World with Madeline

Jun 17

A cartoon drawing from the Madeline book series. It shows an old city alongside a river. A group of children in yellow dresses walk with a nun along the river and past a person fishing.

Following Madeline around the World

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve 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 –
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline.”

— Ludwig Bemelmans

Amid the quaint illustrations of 12 little girls in two straight lines, and towering landmarks from around the world, are stories of adventure and excitement. Rhyming words draw the attention of the listening child. A series of books follow Madeline’s travels. Paris, London, Rome, and even America provide the landscapes for her fun and sometimes dangerous escapades.

Reading aloud to children is essential. Anyone can list the advantages. Many have adopted the tradition of bedtime stories, story hour at their local libraries, or audiobooks and read-alouds on YouTube. These precious hours, however, are limited.

So why not choose the best of children’s books. Add other educational goals to your list. Geography and history lessons can be seamlessly breached by simply guiding the child through the loveliest of tales.

Travel the world with Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline collection.

“All aboard!”

Madeline and the Cats of Rome book cover

Meg Rayborn Dawson

Meg Rayborn Dawson is a homeschooling mom of 9 and the author of Dyslexic No More: Saved by the ABC’s. She holds an MS in Exceptional Student Education with a focus on Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of West Florida, an MA in Psychology from Grand Canyon University, and a BA from Northwest Nazarene University.