Everything Old is New Again and Again...

Have you heard the news? Ludwig Bemelmans' grandson, John Bemelmans Marciano, will be releasing the first Madeline book in 50 years. It's called Madeline and the Cats of Rome, and will be available in early September. I'm certainly curious to see what the book will be like. It is always a touchy subject – resurrecting classic children's characters that have for all intents and purposes, shuffled off this mortal coil along with their original creators. Some people get mighty incensed when this kind of stuff happens. Take, for example, some of the response on the Quill & Quire blog when they announced that Canadian author Cary Fagan and illustrator Dusan Petricic are teaming up to create a new Jacob Two-Two book.

In both situations, obviously the families of the creators have given their approval. I would think that Mr. Marciano, being the grandson of Ludwig Bemelmans would have a pretty good idea of how to create a relatively genuine Madeline story. And Cary Fagan and Mr. Petricic? The best choices for Jacob Two-Two, for sure. Will these books be just like the originals? Will they be as good as the originals? More than likely not. Does that mean they shouldn't do it? I don't think so. I see it more as an homage to the original artists, and a way to remind readers of the original stories. Is it a cash grab? Of course. Every book published is a cash grab, is it not? (We need only be reminded of the endless supply of celebrity children's books to understand that concept).

Now if they had hired Madonna to write these books, then I'd be the first in line to scream and holler, gnash my teeth and generally raise hell. Let's just pray that never happens.

Comments

[sassymonkey]

I'm never sure what I think of these things. I'm generally inclined to leave them alone, like the Anne of Green Gable prequel. I just can't do it. But I'm really loving the idea of another Madeline book...

[Tim]

I got to hear the author read the book at our local book festival this past weekend (a few copies were available for early sale but sold out before we could nab one). I'm not a Madeline expert, but my four year old daughter enjoyed the story, and I'm sure that we'll pick up a copy when it is available.

[Pete]

Nice work, Patricia. Thanks to this post of yours, right now some big publishing executive is leaping out of his chair and exclaiming, "You know who would be perfect to do a new version of The Secret Garden? Madonna!"