Madeline's Easter – Madeline & the Easter Bonnet
Ludwig Bemelmans Madeline Books – Easter Cartoon Episode Review
Mar 29, 2009
This Easter-themed episode from the Madeline cartoon series based on the Madeline books by Ludwig Bemelmans provides children with thirty minutes of charming, appropriate, family-friendly entertainment that can inspire a fun Easter activity for kids.
Madeline and the Easter Bonnet – Easter Cartoon Plot
Bon Bon the neighborhood milk-wagon mare will not budge a foot without wearing her favorite straw hat. Madeline and the rest of the girls (who, of course, live in an old house in Paris that is covered with vines and walk around in two straight lines) feel sorry that her hat is not very pretty, so they borrow it and use ribbons, flowers, lace, and bows (each girl contributing) to transform it into a lovely new Easter chapeau.
Unfortunately, the hat blows away in the wind, and Madeline and the girls must find it or no one in Paris will receive their milk. Luckily, while delivering the milk for Bon Bon and Jacques (the milk man), Madeline discovers that the hat has blown into a French fashion shop where it has become all the rage. By the end of the episode, all the fashionable ladies of Paris are wearing copies of Madeline's creation, the girls have had fun being hat models in a spring fashion show, and Bon Bon has the perfect hat for her.
Madeline and the Easter Bonnet – Easter Cartoon Review for Parents
Like the sweet Madeline books on which it is based, this Madeline cartoon show is charming and appropriate for children. Families that do not celebrate Easter in a religious way may be put off by a reference to the girls going to church to pray on Easter morning, but families to whom religion is important will appreciate that detail.
Though simple, the lovely animation of this episode includes depictions of and references to such important Parisian landmarks as the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triumph, and the Champs-Élysées. As with the Madeline books, parents can use these references to teach children about Paris.
There is a good lesson in this Easter episode about the value of making something old over into something new, as opposed to just tossing old things out. Adults will also be amused by the fun the show pokes at the fashion industry, specifically the fuss the fashionable ladies make over a hat designed by schoolgirls for a milk-wagon horse.
Madeline Easter Activity for Kids – Make an Easter Bonnet
Once children have watched Madeline and her friends transform a plain straw hat into a unique Easter bonnet, provide children with art supplies to create their own Easter bonnets.
Children can construct their Easter hats a couple of ways:
- Give children a straw hat and supplies such as ribbons, silk or paper flowers, lace, pieces of fabric, tin foil, crepe paper, gift-wrapping bows, small toys, and other decorative objects. Help younger children tape, tie, or glue the objects to their hats. Older children might be trusted to use needles and thread to sew their hats together.
- Give children paper hats and supplies such as stickers, crayons, markers, foam shapes, glitter, and glue. Have children draw designs and glue objects to the paper hats to make their Easter bonnets.
Once children have finished their hats, have them dress in fancy Easter outfits and hold an Easter parade. Be sure to take pictures of children modeling their hats. For extra fun, children can pretend they run a millinery shop and make many different Easter hats to display in their shop windows. If supplies are short, children can just make a sketch book of their various designs.
Madeline DVD – Madeline's Easter
This animated Easter episode is collected on the 2003 Madeline DVD Madeline's Easter. The other episode included on the DVD – Madeline and the Bad Hat (based on the Ludwig Bemelmans Madeline book of the same name) – is cute, but has nothing to do with either Easter or hats.
This adorable Easter episode is a must-see, but if children are not fans of Madeline and the Ludwig Bemelmans books, parents will be better off renting this Madeline DVD or checking it out of the library, rather than buying a copy.
For another Easter special about Easter bonnets, check out a review of Ruby's Easter Bonnet, an episode of the Nick Jr. Max & Ruby cartoon show. Parents searching for religious Easter cartoons may also want to read a review of VeggieTales An Easter Carol.
Families may also like to read reviews of other animated Easter television specials for children.
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