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.

picture book illustration
Madeline and the Bad Hat 1956: in which the "bad hat" is Pepito the Spanish ambassador's son whose cruel antics outrage Madeline. A live-action Madeline film based on several of the books appeared in 1998 directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer and starring Hatty Jones as Madeline Frances McDormand as Miss Clavel and Nigel Hawthorne as Lord Covington. the smallest one was Madeline.

Ludwig Bemelmans (April 27 1898 – October 1 1962) was an Austria-Hungary-born American writer and illustrator of children's books and an internationally known gourmet. Six were publiLudwig Bemelmansd from 1939 to 1961; a seventh was discovered after his death and publiLudwig Bemelmansd posthumously in 1999.