Mim and the Anxious Artist by Katrinia Nannestad illustrated by Cheryl Orsini

Mim, Nat (her brother) and dad along with their accompanying menagerie of animals have arrived in Paris with their horse drawn bookshop. Mim marvels at the beautiful city and Nat loves the idea of the Awful Tower, his new discovery of French culinary treats and the way he can find his favourite letter 'S' in just about any situation.

They meet a very talented artist named Pierre. His portrait art is captivating but once a painting is completed, he simply cannot give it away or give it to the person who has paid him. This is one of several dilemmas that Mim need to solve with the help of the seemingly mismatched books her father sells each customer from his bookshop. How on earth can a book about gardening help Pierre? Why does the rich lady need The Happy Handyman? And a book about bridges for a famous chef? Surely not. 

In 2021 I read the first first installment of The Travelling Bookshop series. Such a charming story with yummy cakes and the idea of giving the perfect book to a reader! I picked up this one - book three - at a recent charity book sale. I did wonder if I should have read the second installment first but no, the books in this series do stand alone - but IF you can try to get the whole set and then settled down for a delicious week or two of reading. 

In this video Katrina Nannestad talks about her series. Here is her website. You can see more of my posts which feature books by Katrina Nannestad by clicking on the label the bottom of this post. I also adore the illustrations and bright covers by Cheryl Orsini of this book and all the other titles from the series. 

This series is filled with such hope and whimsy, bringing words and the world to life for us. It is a series that I have been following since the beginning, and I am looking forward to seeing where Mim and her family go next with their wonderful bookshop. It’s such a fun series and readers of all ages will get something wonderful out of it. The Book Muse

This is the newest installment published March, 2024

Bookseller blurb: Mim Cohen roams the world in a travelling bookshop, with her dad and brother and a horse called Flossy. Flossy leads them where she will, to the place where they're needed most ... the place where the perfect book will find its way home. Now Mim has arrived in wonderful Venice, city of canals, palaces, bridges, boats and ... quarrels. Gondolier battles, cat nappings and laundry theft are just the beginning. The Magnifico family and the Forte family are at war. Mim knows they're here to help the feuding families. To show them a better way to behave. To bring an end to the vicious vendetta. If only Mim could find each of them the right book. If only they'd all stop reading the wrong books.

Solomon Macaroni and the Vampire Vacation by Ashleigh Barton illustrated by Sarah Davis

Bookseller blurb: It's holiday time for Solomon and his cousins. Uncle Dracula has planned a surprise visit to Paris. There will be fine food, fabulous fashion and fang-tastic art. When the cousins become captivated by a magical Mona Lisa, Solomon gets a bad feeling they're up to something. Again. Soon they have accidentally unleashed mayhem on the city of love and Uncle Dracula is too busy testing his renewed vampire skills to notice. Can Solomon and Lucy save the day before it's too late?

You might like to begin by reading my post about the first book from this series. While it is not essential to read the first book in order to understand this second, I think it would help you make more sense of the main characters especially Solomon, his cousin Lucy, and Uncle Dracula.

Solomon Macaroni and the Vampire Vacation will be released tomorrow (3rd October, 2023) - I received an advance copy just over a week ago - thanks UQP. When you read this book it might be good to have a map of Paris and perhaps grab some books about the Mona Lisa. Paris itself feels someone like an extra character in this book. As a way to introduce this book to your students you could discuss why the vampire children want to steal the Mona Lisa - I am sure no one will guess the real reason or the consequences of their heist. 

Here are some fiction and nonfiction books about the Mona Lisa:

I enjoyed the first book in this series about the Titanic. 

This new instalment was published early in 2023

Read more about this on the publisher page. Published in 2023.

I like the way Sarah Davis has illustrated these two covers and alliteration of the titles is fun. There are some very funny moments in this second book. Here are a few examples:

• Uncle Dracula (Dad) shops on EeeeBay. Oh and he keeps saying he slept like a dog when it should be, as Lucy tries to tell him, slept like a log.
• The cranky jetsetter taxi driver, Walter, is a wonderful character (but his taxi is not big enough for the whole family they should have booked a maxi-maxi taxi). I love his taxi rules.
• Leaving for Paris they accidentally leave the youngest child at home - poor Elvis - rather like a scene from the movie Home Alone. The group were halfway across Austria when dad remembered what/who was missing.
• On their previous holiday they stayed at the Fangi-la in the Maldives.
• The getaway car, after they steal the Mona Lisa, is a hot pink, glittery stretch limousine convertible. "Thyme's face ... lit up like it was Halloween. 'A limo!' she exclaimed. 'I've been asking Dad for a limo for centuries. He says they're for show-offs and hens' parties."
• Vincenzo, their own driver from Transylvania, has come to Paris to help but when the magic is unleashed Lucy explains bad things happened to his family in the past - something to do with magic beans and a scam.
• In the library Le Jardin des Livres you will discover a whole new meaning to the idea of speed reading plus the Brewey Decimal System invented by Tabith Brew. Now used in most libraries in the world!

Solomon Macroni and the Vampire Vacation is a long book with 287 pages of fairly small print but the mayhem of the plot means the story just races along to a very satisfying conclusion. 

Here the picture books by Ashleigh Barton:

Beyond Belief by Dee White

"Won't Rabbi Solomon be angry if he finds out I am going to a 

Muslim house of prayer? I am not Muslim. I'm Jewish."

"Many of the children here are Jewish. But the people who hide us and keep us safe, they know about the danger outside these walls. They risk their lives to help us."

"It is written in the Quran. Allah says that to save one man's life is to save the whole of mankind."

Having read these text quotes now take a look at the Book Trailer - it is chilling.

Publisher Blurb: Inspired by the true story of Muslims who saved the lives of Jewish children in the Second World War.  In 1942, in the Grand Mosque in Paris, 11 year old Ruben is hiding from the Nazis. Already thousands of Jewish children have disappeared, and Rubens parents are desperately trying to find his sister. Ruben must learn how to pass himself off as a Muslim, while he waits for the infamous Fox to help him get to Spain to be reunited with his family. One hint of Rubens true identity and he will be killed. So will the people trying to save him.  But when the mosque is raided and the Fox doesnt come, Ruben is forced to flee. Finding himself in the south of France, he discovers that he must adjust to a new reality, and to the startling revelation of the Fox's true identity.

Read these reviews for more plot details:

Dim's Write Stuff : White has crafted Ruben's quest for freedom with care and insight. Rather than taking centre stage historic and cultural facts are infused into the hearts of her characters so that their pain and suffering, their simple joys and expectations are felt vicariously through every page turn.

The Book Muse: Learning these stories enriches our understanding of the history we know, and the history we do not know.

Beyond Belief is a CBCA Younger Readers Notable book for 2021. As you would expect from a holocaust story, this book does contain some very harrowing scenes but it is also an important story about an aspect of the holocaust which you may not know.  I would give this book to mature readers aged 11+.  There are two books on the Notables list this year with a World War II setting (We are Wolves) and both have allowed me to discover different aspects of this period in history. 

Background reading:

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Street Spirit - The Mosque That Sheltered Jews

Yadvashem - Hidden Children In France During the Holocaust

Here is the web site for Dee White where you can hear her talking about her book. Here is a set of teaching notes for Beyond Belief and a set of activities. If you are sharing this book with an older Primary group - I would suggest Grade Six, or a High School class - I would begin with this book The Children we Remember and you could read text extract using Chapter 36 of Beyond Belief:

Companion reads to follow Beyond Belief:

Girl 38

White Bird

If you would like to do further reading on the rescue of Jewish children in Paris this book looks promising:

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson illustrated by Garth Williams

Homeless man, Armand lives a rough but happy life in Paris. It is Winter and only a few days until Christmas. Armand discovers a family of three children have moved into his spot under the bridge. The children explain their mother has gone to work and that they can no longer afford the rent for their apartment. Suzy, the oldest child, invites Armand to join them. She even draws him his own space using a piece of coal. Armand is wary of becoming attached to the children. He calls them starlings and knows they could easily steal his heart if he is not careful.

The mother of the children is not happy to see the old man with her family. She tells him to leave the next morning but later that day Armand comes back to the children and in a truly special moment he takes them to a department store to meet Santa. The children have one wish - they want a house. Now Armand has a serious problem because how can this wish ever come true. He as assured the children Santa will find them under the bridge on Christmas morning buy their Christmas wish seems utterly impossible.

This book would  make a beautiful family read aloud at Christmas or perhaps if you are visiting Paris. 

Publisher blurb: "Armand, an old man living on the streets of Paris, relishes his solitary life in the beautiful city. He is happy with his carefree existence, begging and doing odd jobs to keep himself warm and fed. With simple pleasures and no cares, what more could he need. Then one day just before Christmas, Armand returns to his favourite spot beneath the bridge to find three cold and hungry children. Although he has no interest in children, Armand soon finds himself caring for the small family. It does not take Armand very long to realise that he must do whatever it takes to get them a real home."

This book was first published over 60 years ago but it has honestly stood the test of time. I can easily see why The Family Under the Bridge was award a Newbery Honour in 1959. This book is still in print. Here is a review with more plot details.

Here in Australia you might need to talk about the term "hobo" - I think here this might be considered quite a derogatory or rude word. Armand is a homeless man. You could use other words such as drifter or perhaps a tramp; homeless or a street person.

If you want to talk further about people who live on our city streets try to find these:

Space Trevellers

The Old Man

I saw Pete and Pete saw me

For an older child try to find:

Night Bus Hero

Diva and Flea by Mo Willems and Tony DiTerlizzi

The message—about the value of trying new experiences 

and learning to trust—lies lightly on this lively tale. 

The cover of this book says
Diva and Flea a Parisian Tale
As told and shown by Mo Willems and Tony DiTerlizzi

On the last page it says (this made me laugh)
"Some names and places in this story have been altered to protect the privacy of the animals involved."

These two tiny details really set the tone for this a terrific book :

• You will not predict the plot
• You will not predict the relationship between Diva (dog) and Flea (cat)
• You will enjoy the setting right beside the Eiffel Tower
• You will learn new words such as 'flaneur'
• You might marvel that Mo truly did meet little Diva in Paris

Diva lives in a Paris apartment.  "Diva took her job very seriously...   And if anything ever happened, no matter how big or small, Diva would yelp and run away. Diva was very good at her job."

Flea is a large cat.  "Flea did not have a fixes occupation ... he was a flaneur. A flaneur is someone (or somecat) who wanders the streets and bridges and alleys of the city just to see what there is to see. A great flaneur has seen everything but still looks for more, because there is always more to discover."

Flea and Diva will of course meet in this story but how their relationship unfolds will astonish you. When Flea first sees Diva she yelps and runs away.  This amuses and intrigues Flea and so for several days he plays the game.  He walks past the courtyard of 11 avenue Le Play and Diva yelps and runs away. Then one day Diva stops and asks "are you trying to hurt my feelings?" The next day Flea leaves Diva a dead mouse as a peace offering. Diva would prefer a ribbon and so the two share their first laugh.

I love their developing relationship.  Diva has things to learn from Flea about being brave and stepping outside and also about the wonders of the city of Paris.  Flea has things to learn from Diva about patience and friendship and life in a human home.

Look closely and you will see a picture of Mo Willems himself by Tony DiTerrlizzi near the end of the story and make sure you read the final pages about their inspiration for this warm story.

Here is the cover in French.  Read this review for more details.  Now take nine minutes out of your busy day and watch this video where Tony and Mo discuss their collaboration.

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

Here is another one of my midnight reads.  I simply could not postpone my reading until today, so late into the night I finished this amazing book.

The theme and motto of this book is:

Never ignore a possible

I actually hardly know where to begin with this book.  Sophie survives a shipwreck and is rescued by the wonderful Charles.

"On the morning of its first birthday, a baby was found floating in a cello case in the middle of the English Channel."

"Think of night-time with a speaking voice. Or think how moonlight might talk, ... give those things a narrow face with hooked eyebrows, and long arms and legs, and that is what the  baby saw as she was lifted out of her cello case and up into safety.  His name was Charles Maxim, and he determined ... he would keep her."

Naturally the authorities do not approve of these arrangements.

"The child is your ward.  She is not your daughter.' This was the sort of woman who spoke in italics.  You would be willing to lay bets her hobby was organising people."

Sophie lives a happy, if somewhat odd life, with Charles until she turns twelve.  At this time the aforementioned authorities arrive this time with plans to move Sophie into more suitable accommodation - an orphanage.

Sophie has a deep longing in her heart.  She knows her precious mother is still alive somewhere in the world.  She is certain, absolutely certain, that her mother was a musician who played the cello. Sophie is a resilient, intrepid and daring young girl with extraordinary climbing skills. When she discovers the name of the cello maker hidden inside her cello case her course is set.  She and Charles now need to move quickly, run away to Paris, find the cello maker and in turn find Sophie's mother.

While in Paris, Charles and Sophie stay in a run down hotel. Sophie climbs onto the roof and there she meets a young Rooftopper - a boy called Matteo.

Here are a few more quotes to demonstrate the beauty of this writing.

For their train trip to Paris Sophie travels in a small carriage usually reserved for the children of the Duke of Kent.  "The carriage was beautiful. Everything was child-sized and made with the delicacy and detail of witch-craft."

Sophie and Charles race across Paris to the cello maker.  "It was ten minutes' walk; ten minutes through cobbled streets, and window boxes full of red carnations, ... ten minutes in which Sophie's heart looped the loop and danced a jitterbug".

Matteo and Sophie share a feast provided by Charles (who perhaps knows more than he is letting on).

"The pack was full of parcels wrapped in greaseproof paper. ... bread rolls, four of them, soft in the middle and dusted with flour at the top.  They were still warm from the oven and they smelt of blue skies.  The bread had been spread by someone with strong opinions about butter - it was as thick as the first joint on Sophie's thumb."

If you enjoy Rooftoppers - actually when you read Rooftoppers - please read this book - you should also look for The three loves of Persimmon, The invention of Hugo Cabret, The truth about Verity Sparks, Secret letters from 0-10 and Withering by Sea.  I also thought of Journey to the River Sea and Tensy Farlow.

There is a musical score right through Rooftoppers.  Perhaps you could listen to a little of it to set the mood.  You can read a more detailed description of the plot here.  Here is a video with the author.

I held my breath through most of this book and then I held my breath when I clicked on the Kirkus review. YES!!! They loved this book too.

This witty, inventively poetic, fairy-tale–like adventure 

shimmers with love, magic and music

Whimsical, beautifully-written and as carefully balanced as the tightrope Sophie learns to walk, Rooftoppers is a sensitive and emotionally-resonant novel 

with an uplifting message about the power of hope

Madame Pamplemousse and her Incredible Edibles by Rupert Kingfisher

If you have been reading my blog for a while now you will know that I enjoy books that talk about food so here is one you might also savor and enjoy although the food is far from conventional. In her exotic Parisian shop Madame Pamplemousse (what a perfect name!) sells the strangest of foods such as Bison and Black Pepper sausages, Pterodactyl Bacon, Great White shark fin in Banana Liquor and Cobra brains in Black butter. She also sells “her rarest delicacy, a delicacy sold in the tiniest little jar with a label upon which nothing is written. The label is blank and the ingredients are a secret, since it is the single most delicious, the most extraordinary, the most incredible-tasting edible of them all.” Hence the title of this book Madame Pamplemousse and her Incredible Edibles.

I came across this book because the sequel has been listed for our School Magazine bookshelf. Each year our School Magazine here in NSW selects 40 fabulous books. This is a source I really trust, actually this is where I found Toby Alone – my book of the year for 2010!

Our hero in Madame Pamplemousse and her Incredible Edibles is Madeline, a young girl who is sent, each year, to work in the restaurant of her appropriately named Uncle, Monsieur Lard. His restaurant is called the Squealing Pig and the food served there is truly awful especially the dishes prepared by Monsieur Lard himself. Madeline is a talented cook but when her uncle discovers this he is enraged and makes an edict that Madeline is only to be allowed to wash dishes, clean out the ‘fridges and sometimes go shopping for supplies. It is on one of these shopping expeditions that she encounters Madame Pamplemousse and her cat Camembert and her life is drastically changed.

This book is a delicious romp through the streets of Paris and through recipes both delectable and revolting. The characters are all larger than life and the little black and white illustrations throughout add to the fun.

If you enjoy this book look for the sequel Madame Pamplemousse and the Time travelling Café which is almost as good. If you have a few spare minutes pick up the first book. It is a quick one to read and one that might leave you hungry although it is more likely to leave you keen to visit Paris one day!