John Bemelmans Marciano: Reviving a Classic Children’s Book Series
How do you approach taking over a iconic series like Madeline? Do you try to make it your own, or imitate what’s come before?
I have done both. When I first started off, I felt the need to more make my statement with the Madeline books. But since I’ve branched out to doing non-fiction books for adults and middle-grade fiction for kids, I am increasingly happy to keep the books in much the original vein, while of course allowing myself to explore my own interests and create new characters for Madeline to meet.