I’m a sucker for anything Madeline, especially the wonderful books by Ludwig Bemelmans. A few years ago we went to a book signing where Bemelmans’ grandson had written the first new Madeline book in fifty years. It was a blast. I have all the Madeline books, and most of the Madeline cartoons, but at Christmas I drag out even more stuff.

I have some Madeline action figures and playsets that came out a few years ago. As you can see below, I have the Madeline La Petite DANIELLE 15 Piece Play Set (which has the art set and Madeline’s friend Danielle), the Madeline Hat Boutique, and that awesome purple Eiffel Tower (with working elevator.)

At Christmas, I pull the whole thing out and display it. I also have a Madeline tree, which is blue and has tons of Madeline shrinky dinks on it. On our larger tree, I have a couple Madeline ornaments. The ironic thing? I didn’t have any of this stuff when I was a kid! But I always loved the rhyme and subject matter of the Madeline books. (A book about a little red-haired girl, with a dog named Genevieve, who lived in Paris? Can’t imagine why I’d dig that!)