Two Good Girls
A Review by Dr. Jerry Flack
The most recent Book of the Month column in the Gifted Development Center publication (December, 2023) was titled “Two Bad Boys.” As promised, the Book of the Month column begins the new year, 2024, with a tribute to “Two Good Girls.”
Madeline and Eloise are two of the most gifted and assertive girls in the history of 20th century picture books. It may be a stretch to view Eloise (and to a degree, Madeline) as being totally innocent fictional characters. Eloise does occasionally throw the staff of New York City’s famed Plaza Hotel into a dither, but her intentions are always generous. Moreover, both young girls were remarkably fresh and self-assertive at a time in children’s picture book history when stereotypes of girls who behaved “properly” dominated. Both Madeline and Eloise have been such winning characters that their respective picture books have never been out of print.
The opening lines of Madeline are so memorable that millions of fans have the rhyming couplets memorized.
In an old house in Paris
That was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls
In two straight lines.
The house where Madeline resides is set in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower. Madeline is the youngest of the twelve little girls in a private school supervised by the remarkable head mistress, Miss Clavel, whose distinctive clothing imitates the garments of French nuns, circa 1939. Madeline and her eleven school mates, except for different hair styles, are identical in appearance. Even so, Madeline stands out in the pupils’ daily walks around Paris.
Bemelmans was a painter, illustrator, and writer of books for children and adults. He was also a devoted world traveler. Critics have written that Madeline is Paris. Every morning at exactly half past nine, Miss Clavel marches her pupils in two straight lines before Parisian landmarks regardless of rain or shine.
Among the beautiful scenes Madeline and her school mates see are Paris architectural jewels such as the Opera, the Place de la Concorde, the Hotel des Invalides, the Church of Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, and the Tuileries Gardens (facing The Louvre).
Madeline’s individuality and uniqueness stand out when the twelve girls and their head mistress visit the zoo. Eleven girls (and perhaps even Miss Clavel) are frightened by the fierceness of an angry tiger. Madeline proves her mettle right there and then. She alone bravely approaches the fierce tiger with considerable moxie and says, “Pooh-pooh.”
The plot of Madeline is simple, but dramatic. It occurs when the young heroine wakes up in pain in the middle of the night. Miss Clavel quickly calls the doctor who, in turn, sends Madeline to the hospital in an ambulance for an emergency appendectomy. Madeline wakes up in a room filled with flowers and toys. Tiptoeing with solemn faces and each carrying more flowers, Madeline’s eleven school mates visit her beautifully decorated room. The young heroine even has a scar to show off.
To her classmates, Madeline’s emergency seems like a winning way to be spoiled. Once again, Miss Clavel fears yet another disaster when she is awakened by the crying coming from the dormitory bedroom. All of Madeline’s fellow students are in tears. They each claim to need an appendectomy. Miss Clavel tells them to retire to sleep in ending words that are also unforgettable:
And she turned out the light –
and closed the door –
and that’s all there is –
there isn’t anymore.
When Bemelmans first created Madeline in 1939, the cost of full-color illustrations was prohibitive. Hence, the majority of the illustrations in the picture book are black-and-white pen and ink drawings. Glorious colorful paintings are generally reserved to highlight the magnificent structures and scenes that make Paris one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Black-and-white drawings are highlighted with splashes of yellow to create dramatic accents. All of the illustrations have a child-like exuberance and innocence. Bemelmans is not afraid to draw outside the lines. Appropriate for his homage to Paris, his colorful paintings veer towards Impressionism. Every scene is especially inviting to children.
Bemelmans revisited Madeline in Madeline’s Rescue (Viking, 1953) and won the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1954. The sequel introduces an endearing new character, the life-saving dog named Genevieve. Bemelmans would create four more Madeline books in his lifetime: Madeline and the Bad Hat, Madeline and the Gypsies, Madeline in London, and Madeline’s Christmas. It is impossible not to be charmed by the Madeline’s Christmas cover page of the Eiffel Tower festooned with brightly lighted candles that present the landmark as a giant Christmas tree.
In the preface of Madeline in America and Other Holiday Tales by Ludwig Bemelmans (Scholastic, 1999), the author-illustrator’s grandson, John Bemelmans Marciano, notes that Madeline’s creator left notes and sketches for a trip by Madeline to Texas to claim her inheritance of the world’s largest cattle ranch. Her inherited wealth swells when oil is discovered on her ranch. During his worldly travels, Bemelmans met and befriended Stanley Marcus of the famed Texas-based Neiman Marcus department stores.
Eloise, similar to Madeline, also opens with simple but dramatic lines:
I am Eloise
I am six
I am a city child
I live at The Plaza
New York City’s famed hotel, The Plaza, is Eloise’s playground. She lives on the top floor, but she is a peripatetic adventurer of the hotel’s elegant lobby and its most famous rooms such as the Palm Court, the Persian Room, the Grand Ballroom, the Terrace, and the Crystal and Baroque Rooms. Chiefly, Eloise loves to ride the hotel elevators and she adores Room Service (Charge it, please). Eloise often shares her adventures with Weenie, her dog that looks like a cat, and Skipperdee, her beloved turtle who adores raisins. Eloise’s life is overseen by her very British Nanny who has a distinct accent and the habit of repeating things three times:
Nanny says she would rawther I didn’t talk, talk, talk all the time
Eloise also has two dolls named Sabine and Saylor. Eloise loves to make-believe and her imagination is extraordinary, especially when she pretends that Saylor need emergency treatment at the nearest hospital. (She has lost both arms!)
Nanny and the Plaza Hotel staff are the closest persons Eloise has to any parental love and supervision. Her mother can only be described as an unseen wealthy jet setter. She is 30 and has a charge account at Bergdorf’s (that Eloise can use). She loves Europe, especially Paris. She knows Coco Chanel and she is on good terms with the Dean of Andover who presents Eloise’s sole tutor, Philip. Eloise hates boring French lessons and drives poor Philip to distraction.
Even an ebullient child of six years begins to yawn after a full day of exploring The Plaza and Nanny knows it is time for Eloise to put on her pink pajamas and be tucked into bed with both Skipperdee and Weenie complete with a Don’t Disturb sign around her neck. As she falls asleep Eloise is already planning the next day’s high adventures:
Ooooooooo I absolutely love The Plaza
Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight collaborated on three additional Eloise books, Eloise in Paris, Eloise at Christmastime, and Eloise in Moscow. Just as Madeline is portrayed in subsequent adventures, Eloise also remains forever the same impish age in all sequels. The popularity of Eloise remains so great that The Plaza currently has a boutique gift shop entirely devoted to Eloise dolls, plush replicas of Weenie and Skipperdee, and Eloise clothing. Afternoon tea with Eloise can be scheduled and an Eloise Suite can be booked.
Hilary Knight presents Eloise as a slightly plump six-year-old with unruly hair. Similar to Bemelmans, Knight created artwork that is devoid of full color. He uses bright pink and vivid red accents to complement his pen and ink drawings. When Eloise travels to Paris, the accent color switches to blue. The illustrator presents his young heroine in double-page spreads that are overflowing with activities that accentuate Eloise’s breathless days.
Eloise and Madeline remain so popular that their picture books may well be in print for another century. The eponymous titles are available as individual volumes and in special collections such as A Madeline Treasury: The Original Stories by Ludwig Bemelmans (Viking, 2014). Other treasures include Madeline dolls and activity books.
Home and School Activities
Eloise Visits Madeline in Paris. Ludwig Bemelmans and Kay Thompson were both in love with Paris. Madeline and Madeline’s Rescue are both set entirely in the famed city. Eloise’s second adventure places her in the same magical city. Eloise and Nanny (along with Weenie and Skipperdee) visit many of the same Paris locations that Madeline sees almost daily such as the Eiffel Tower, the Place de la Concorde, the Opera, and the Louvre. Encourage readers to imagine an encounter between these two bright and courageous little girls. Induce readers of all ages to learn more about Paris through books and online. What adventure might the young girls have? Don’t forget to include how Nanny and Miss Clavel along with Weenie and Genevieve are featured in the make-believe story.
Perhaps fast forward to the present day. Imagine a “selfie” Eloise might take with her Smart Phone alongside Madeline. Perhaps they are posed in front of the magnificent Paris Opera. Ask readers to draw a picture that represents Eloise’s selfie.
Christmas Eve Adventures. Madeline and Eloise are both very busy on Christmas Eve in their respective books, Madeline’s Christmas (Viking, 1956) and Eloise at Christmastime (Simon & Schuster, 1958). Both little girls are selfless. They are sacrificing their own celebrations by making sure that other characters have a happy and healthy holiday. Inform students that both girls have achieved great fame and readers of the society pages in Paris and New York want to share their exploits. Ask them to use the reporter questions of who, what, when, where, and why to write and illustrate stories that shine on both spritely characters and the gifts that they give to others.
Where Are the Parents? Madeline lives in a private school with eleven other little girls who are supervised by the redoubtable Miss Clavel. Eloise is cared for by the somewhat scatty Nanny who shares their top floor penthouse at The Plaza Hotel. Readers do learn that Eloise’s mother is 30, very wealthy, and is constantly on the go, but she is never seen. Madeline’s parents are also absent. Ask fans of Madeline and Eloise to present a new chapter in the lives of each girl as they meet and interact with their parents.
There is one striking difference between the characters of Madeline and Eloise that is especially poignant. Madeline, with few exceptions, is raised in the company of eleven other young girls who are her age and her constant companions. She is never friendless. Despite being just a tad disobedient, Madeline lives a genuinely happy childhood. Eloise has no childhood friends. She is exclusively in the company of adults and even mimics their language when she repeatedly uses such grownup expressions as “...for Lord’s sake.” She even needs to pretend to be an orphan to gain kindly adult attention during her lone explorations of The Plaza.
Meet Ludwig Bemelmans and Kay Thompson. The authors of the Madeline and Eloise picture books were remarkably gifted persons who lived fascinating lives. Bemelmans was Austrian, but emigrated to the United States in 1916. He spent his first night in America at Ellis Island on Christmas Eve. He served in the United States Army during World War I and became an American citizen in 1918. Greatly talented in several disciplines, Bemelmans primarily thought of himself as a painter. He was a world traveler who was madly in love with Paris.
Kay Thompson was a musical prodigy who performed a piano solo by Liszt with the St. Louis Symphony when she was 16 years old. Beyond her creation of the saucy Eloise character, Thompson was best known as a vocal coach for MGM during the studio’s golden age of movie musicals. Her most famous student was Judy Garland. She also co-starred in Funny Face (Paramount, 1957) with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, a movie musical that was primarily set in Paris.
Ask students to research the lives of one or both writers. The young biographers can then write and illustrate the author page biographies on the respective book covers of Madeline and/or Eloise.
Bemelmans, Ludwig. Madeline. New York: Viking, 1939. Caldecott Honor.
Thompson, Kay. Eloise. Illus. by Hilary Knight. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1955.
