Parents' Guide to

Madeline in London

By Jennifer Gennari, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 4+

Slow pace, but kids like the pageantry.

Book Ludwig Bemelmans Mystery 1961
Madeline in London Poster Image

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What's the Story?

Pepito pines away for his Madeline and his other schoolgirl friends when his family moves to London. To cheer him up and to celebrate his birthday, Madeline and the gang travel to London. Their gift, a horse formerly with the Royal Guard, immediately takes off, bearing Pepito and Madeline into a royal parade.

When the two children are reunited with Miss Clavel, they forget to feed the horse, and in the morning he is sick from eating roses and green apples from the garden. Guess who gets to keep the horse in the end?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Children will like the pageantry of this story, but the pace is slow. Author/illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans has fun painting a whole new set of architectural landmarks. The Tower of London is in the background, and children will like to pick out Madeline and Pepito among the rows and rows of Beefeaters in front of Windsor Castle.

As in other Madeline tales, the poem contains a few rough spots and forced rhymes. Bemelmans mentions crumpets out of the blue just because the word rhymes with trumpets, for example. Also, the solution to the horse's naughtiness for eating in the garden is to let Madeline, rather than Pepito, keep the horse, which might strike listeners as odd.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the choice of a horse as a gift for Pepito. Why did they think a horse would be a good present? Why did it turn out to be not a very good present? Why did the horse eat the garden? Was it the horse's fault?

Book Details

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