Ludwig Bemelmans was a painter, illustrator, and writer for both children and adults. His Madeline book rank among the most honored children’ s book series. Madeline was named a Caldecott Honor Book, and the first of its five sequels, Madeline’ s Rescue, won the Caldecott Medal and was a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year. Mr. Bemelmans died in 1962, after completing Madeline’ s Christmas. Visit penguin. com/madeline.