Madeline at 75

Madeline, that feisty French girl, turns 75 this year. In honor of that, Penguin releases tomorrow a 75th anniversary edition of Ludwig Bemelmans' classic children's book. This slipcased edition includes a full-color panoramic pop-up of Paris, where the Caldecott Honor-winning story is set. Penguin also published last month a handsome hardcover omnibus, A Madeline Treasury, with all of the original stories by Bemelmans plus an introduction by Anna Quindlen.

As part of the anniversary festivities, the New-York Historical Society will host an exhibition titled Madeline in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans, from July 4 through October 13. The exhibit will  feature more than ninety of Bemelmans' artworks, including drawings from all six Madeline books, murals from a Paris bistro, and panels from the Onassis yacht (Bemelmans, who died in 1962, was an author-illustrator and later, a serious painter). The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, will also mark Madeline's 75th with an exhibit opening on November 15.

Image via Penguin Books.