^above: the new mini-hardcover picture book, LOVE From Madeline -written by John Bemelmans Marciano & illustrated by Steven Salerno, released in January 2022 by VIKING (imprint of Penguin Random House)
^above: detail of the Title Page from the new mini-hardcover picture book, LOVE From Madeline -written by John Bemelmans Marciano & illustrated by Steven Salerno, released in January 2022 by VIKING (imprint of Penguin Random House)
One of my recent picture book illustration projects I’ve been working on over the past couple years is the MADELINE series of 5 new picture books published by VIKING (an imprint of Penguin Random House) -featuring one of the most beloved and recognized characters in picture book history, Madeline, created by Ludwig Bemelmans (b.1898 - d.1962) the author and illustrator of the original 5 classic Madeline picture books published from 1939 through 1961. Yes, THAT Madeline! The brave little girl in the yellow hat living in a Paris boarding school along with eleven other young girls, all under the watchful gaze of the towering Miss Clavel.
(see a video on this special MADELINE project on Steven’s YouTube.com channel)
(see more details about this special MADELINE project in my spotlight feature section)
(see examples of some of the completed illustrations from LOVE from Madeline)
Thus far I have competed the final illustrations for the first 4 titles in the 5 book series:
1) Love from Madeline (this book was released in January 2022 and is available now)
2) Madeline’s ABCs (this book will be released April 2022)
3) Madeline’s 123s (this book will be released June 2022)
4) Madeline’s SEASONS (this book will be released November 2022)
5) Madeline’s KINDNESS (still in progress release date Spring 2025)
The author of these 5 new MADELINE titles is John Bemelmans Marciano, the grandson of Ludwig Bemelmans.
^above: detail of the one of the interior illustration spreads from the new mini-hardcover picture book, LOVE From Madeline -written by John Marciano Bemelmans & illustrated by Steven Salerno, released in January 2022 by VIKING (imprint of Penguin Random House)
And just yesterday I finally received delivery of my copies of LOVE from Madeline -which is the first book produced in the 5 book series, and was released back in January 2022. Apparently because of national supply chain issues it took six months for me to receive these copies!
^above: detail of the one of the interior illustration spreads from the new mini-hardcover picture book, LOVE From Madeline -written by John Marciano Bemelmans & illustrated by Steven Salerno, released in January 2022 by VIKING (imprint of Penguin Random House)
These 5 new picture books are mini-hardcovers… and are adorable! It was a very challenging project -which required me to emulate the very distinctive illustration style of the famous MADELINE originator, Ludwig Bemelmans… I created all the new illustrations for these picture books entirely digitally, which gave me total flexibility to draw and redraw and redraw the line work defining the characters over and over again, as many times as it took, for me to ensure I was capturing the look and feel of Bemelmans’ style.
My career creating illustrations for many popular picture books, as well as illustrations for editorial and advertising has never been about mimicking another artist’s style. But in the unique instance of this MADELINE project, I felt a kind of obligation to accept it and provide my talents helping to protect the Madeline/Bemelmans brand for future generations.
I hope you add a few of these new MADELINE titles to your picture book collection!