History Literature / Madeline

* SettingUpdate: In contrast to other books in the series, ''Madeline at the White House'' is set in the early 1960's rather than the mid-1930's.

** Madeline's debut in "The Golden Basket" features some inconsistencies with the series that spun off from this book. Her name is written as "Madeleine" and her teacher is named "Madame Severine" rather than "Ms. Clavel.", with a Sister Angeline being mentioned.

* CatchPhrase: Miss Clavel turning on the light and whispering "Something is not right". Usually happens [[OnceAnEpisode Once Per Book]]. It was even turned into a song in the 1988 cartoon.

->''"And she turned out the light and closed the door.''
->''And that's all there is. There isn't any more."''

----

->''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 smiled at the good, and frowned at the bad, and sometimes they were very sad. They left the house at half past nine, in two straight lines, in rain or shine. The smallest one- was Madeline.''

->''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 smiled at the good, and frowned at the bad, and sometimes they were very sad. They left the house at half past nine, in two straight lines, in rain or shine. The smallest one- was Madeline.''

* NiceHat: The girls' all wear yellow hats with black ribbons on them, plus Pepito and his family wear nifty black hats ... even if it does denote their respective personalities.

* {{Tuckerization}}: The main character was named after Bemelmans' wife Madeleine (with two "e's"). He used the "Madeline" variation (one "e") for the character because not enough words rhyme with "Madeleine."

* MoralDissonance: Pepito is called out for his cruelty towards animals, as he should be, but when he's bedridden after being attacked by dogs, Madeline does almost nothing to comfort him. Instead, she spends the entire time telling him what an ass he is ''as he's reeling in pain from it and already knows.'' And then he becomes a vegetarian, [[{{Anvilicious}} just to make it more obvious]] how wrong it was for him to torture animals. And at the beginning of the book, before he even does a thing, the girls judge him at first sight as a "bad hat". Their cruelty to ''him'' is ''never'' called out. Miss Clavel's "I'm sure he's just misunderstood" is the closest to an objection raised. And even that is revealed to be misguided.

* AdultFear: Miss Clavel noticing Madeline's empty bed in ''Madeline and the Gypsies'', then [[OhCrap quickly realizing]] that Madeline got left behind at the circus. The cartoon also shows Pepito's parents (who were apparently off on a business trip in the book) worrying about him also getting left behind.

** In ''Madeline in America,'' Madeline's wealthy great-grandfather passes away, leaving her his fortune. What is going on is starkly obvious, and even great-grandpapa is illustrated on his deathbed, dictating his will while an angel Dixieland band plays above him, but his fate is never stated explicitly: "Her great-grandpapa, in bad health,/Had left her all his earthly weath./To Dallas Madeline would be sent/For the reading of the last will and testament./Madeline was sad/At the news of her great-granddad./The little girls cried, "Boohoo!"/And Miss Clavel said, "We'll all go with you."

* HotDrinkCure: In "Madeline and the Carousel", Miss Clavel tells Madeline to go to bed with a cup of chamomile tea after Madeline falls off of a carousel horse and hits her head.

* NeverSayDie: In ''Madeline in America,'' Madeline's wealthy great-grandfather passes away, leaving her his fortune. What is going on is starkly obvious, and even great-grandpapa is illustrated on his deathbed, dictating his will while an angel Dixieland band plays above him, but his fate is never stated explicitly: "Her great-grandpapa, in bad health,/Had left her all his earthly weath./To Dallas Madeline would be sent/For the reading of the last will and testament./Madeline was sad/At the news of her great-granddad./The little girls cried, "Boohoo!"/And Miss Clavel said, "We'll all go with you."

* HeelFaceTurn: Pepito in "Madeline and the Bad Hat"

** Animated series: Chloe, Nicole, Danielle, Yvette, Nona, Lulu, Anne, Ellie, Monique, Janine, and Sylvie (or Simone)

** HairDecorations: Madeline and her friends had a penchant for wearing ribbons in their hair.

* MoodWhiplash: ''Madeline in America'' begins with Madeline receiving news just before Christmas that her American great-grandfather has died. She is sad and her schoolmates join in with their signature "Boohoo!"; then Miss Clavel announces that they will all go to Texas with Madeline for the reading of great-grandpapa's will. Any semblance of mourning is put off as an exciting adventure starts for the girls, hosted by great-grandpapa's attorney Sam Crockett, who points out to Madeline the vast property that he claims, at first, is now hers. This culminates in a materialistic Christmas rainshower of gifts for all the girls, again courtesy of Sam. When, however, Miss Clavel asks him to stop spoiling her pupils, he promptly obliges by carrying out the reading of great-grandpapa's will, which reveals to a not-too-happy-looking Madeline that she will actually inherit on her 21st birthday - and everyone is sent back home.

* NeverSayDie: In ''Madeline in America'' Madeline's wealthy great-grandfather passes away, leaving her his fortune. What is going on is starkly obvious, and even great-grandpapa is illustrated on his deathbed, dictating his will while an angel Dixieland band plays above him, but his fate is never stated explicitly: "Her great-grandpapa, in bad health,/Had left her all his earthly weath./To dallas Madeline would be sent/For the reading of the last will and testament./Madeline was sad/At the news of her great-granddad./The little girls cried, "Boohoo!"/And Miss Clavel said, "We'll all go with you."

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first book is a realistic {{Slice of Life}}. The subsequent books become increasingly more adventure-driven. ''Madeline's Christmas,'' the last book by Ludwig Bemelmans, goes so far as to introduce magic and fantasy elements, which the books by his grandson also feature. The animated series mostly leaves out the magic, as does the 1998 film, but they keep the later books' adventurous tone for the most part.

* NoAntagonist: Inverted ''then'' played straight. Through all the adaptations themselves, Pepito starts out as an antagonist, but is then redeemed a little later on.