Madeline

"Bemelmans' drawings have put an authentic Paris within the covers of this book. The rhymes in which the tale is told make it one that children will enjoy repeating." The New York Times"

Madeline finds herself having to manage the needs of the school when everyone else falls ill. There was a TV version of this story, only the magician was replaced by an old lady named Madame Marie.

The story begins when the Spanish Ambassador and his wife move in next door and their son, Pepito, is not a good boy. Madeline dubs him a 'bad hat' and the book is controversial due to the cruel nature of Pepito's mischief, notably animal cruelty and pulling various pranks.[1] After he suffers from his own actions involving a group of dogs and a cat, Pepito reforms himself while bandaged up in bed and Madeline visits him. Pepito is also a main character in the stories Madeline and the Gypsies and Madeline in London, but in the TV series, he has three cousins named Paquito, Pablito and Panchito who are much worse than he himself was.

Pepito, the son of the Spanish Amassador invites Madeline and her fellow students to a Gypsy carnival. However, in the chaos caused by a sudden rainstorm, Miss Clavel and the other girls lose sight of Madeline and Pepito, who are unintentionally left behind on the ferris wheel. The two children find themselves guests of the gypsies, and soon wind up part of the carnival themselves.

Madeline does her trick of frightening Miss Clavel and falls into the Seine River and is saved by a dog. Miss Clavel and the girls cannot find the owner of the dog, so the girls are allowed to keep the dog. When they bring her home, they name her Genevieve. But problem starts to rise when other girls want to spend time with Genevieve. Big trouble arrives in front of their animal-loathing Landlord Cucuface, who takes one look at poor Genevieve and has his driver take her away, causing the girls and Miss Clavel to look for Genevieve, only to be broken-hearted of not finding her. Late that night, Miss Clavel wakes up and finds Genevieve in the light of the doorway. Everyone rejoices Genevieve's return. That night, the girls fight about Genevieve again, causing Miss Clavel to take Genevieve to her own room. Even later that night, Madeline and the girls, with Miss Clavel find that Genevieve has given birth to eleven puppies, giving enough hound to go around.

Madeline and her class, accompanied by Miss Clavel, journey to London to visit their friend Pepito, the son of the Spanish Ambassador. Pepito used to be the neighbor of Madeline and the other students but had to move to London and is not happy. The visit by his friends is a special surprise.