Madeline is a popular children's book series. It was written by American author Ludwig Bemelmans. The first book in the series, "Madeline", was published in 1939. The book was very successful. In the 1940s and 1950s, Bemelmans wrote many more sequels to the original. Bemelman’s grandson, John Bemelmans-Mariano, writes the series of books to this day. There are 16 Madeline books. The books were later made into a television series and a movie.