John Bemelmans Marciano reads from MADELINE AT THE WHITE HOUSE

From an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, comes a new guest to the White House…Madeline! John Bemelmans Marciano, the grandson of Madeline creator Ludwig Bemelmans, continues the family tradition with Madeline at the White House. With a bouncy read-aloud text and stunning watercolor pictures, John Bemelmans Marciano showcases Washington D.C. just as the original Madeline quintessentially portrayed Paris.

Madeline at the White House is based on a story Ludwig Bemelmans left unfinished. John Bemelmans Marciano comments, “The idea for sending Madeline to the White House was my grandfather’s and grew out of his friendship with Jacqueline Kennedy. In a series of letters from late 1961 and early 1962, my grandfather sounded out the First Lady on ideas for the book, which he proposed calling “Madeline visits Caroline,” with text from Mrs. Kennedy herself. My grandfather died in 1961, before the book was finished.”

John Bemelmans Marciano is a self taught illustrator like his grandfather, Madeline creator Ludwig Bemelmans. He grew up on a horse farm in Three Bridges, New Jersey, and attended Columbia University in New York City. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their daughter.