Perhaps the most interesting collection of notes concerns Madeline's Christmas. The book version was published over twenty years after Bemelmans' death, based on the story as it appeared in magazine form. The verse is taken from the magazine, but the art had to be recreated as the originals could not be found. Bemelmans was not happy with the story; at the time of his death, he was reworking the tale for a book to be entitled Madeline and the Magician.

An inkling of the new direction can be seen in a note titled Madeline and the Arab.

Madeline and the Magician begins with the tale of Mustapha, an omnipotent magician who loses the power of his magic ring after turning his dog into a bug and squashing him. He becomes a rug merchant, poor, destitute and pathetic.

Here, the story begins to coincide with Madeline's Christmas. Mustapha sells Madeline the rugs, gets caught freezing outside without them, then returns to the old house where Madeline nurses him back to health. As Madeline gets ready to go get a Christmas tree, the magician's magic ring comes alive, the dishes are done, everyone is well and goes home for Christmas.

How does an all-powerful magician nearly freeze to death? And what happened to that Christmas tree Madeline is supposed to get? These questions are solved in the new version: Mustapha only gets his power back when he lights the Christmas tree. He then proceeds to go a bit nuts, taking Madeline and the girls to the most fabulous beauty salons of Paris, then around the world, before finally turning the old house into a fantastical paradise where they get whatever they want.

Eventually, the girls clamor for Mustapha to make Miss Clavel well again. Better, she tells Mustapha that he must leave. He turns into a butterfly and goes away.

An even harsher ending had the magician going out into the cold and dying, as is evidenced in four beautifully painted panels. Unfortunately, no accompanying verse explains how this would fit into the story.