****Crêpes By Suzette
by Monica Wellington
Reviewed December 20, 2004.
Dutton Children’s Books, New York, 2004. 32 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (E WEL).
I love Paris. I’m reviewing this book this week in honor of my
e-mail critique group. We met at a Society of Children’s Book Writers
and Illustrators’ conference in Paris in 1999, and now we’re hoping to
have a reunion at another SCBWI conference in Paris in November 2005.
(Besides, I know Erin will want to read it with her six-year-old!)
Crêpes By Suzette is a simple story following Suzette,
the owner of a cart for making crêpes, as she goes around Paris
feeding the people she meets. The illustrations are made up of photo
collages of actual places in Paris, with cartoon-like drawings of people
on top of them in poses evoking famous paintings.
Suzette takes her cart to many famous places: The Left Bank,
the Luxembourg Gardens, Notre-Dame, the Louvre, the Tuileries, and the
Eiffel Tower, among others. It makes me feel I’m back in Paris,
strolling through the gardens.
My fifth-grade son, besides being reminded of our family trips to Paris,
said this book made him hungry for the crêpes he had at a Christmas
Market a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately, there’s a recipe in the
back of the book, so maybe I’ll see if I can make crêpes as good.
This book is perfect for people who’d like to give their kids a taste
of the art and sights of a great city for much less than the cost of plane
fare. For those of us already on the same side of the Atlantic as
Paris, reading this book with your kids would be a fun way to get ready
for a trip to Paris. Your kids can watch for the landmarks pictured
in the book, the art works represented, and especially for a crêpe
cart. Anyone who loves Paris will love this book.
Copyright © 2004 Sondra Eklund. All
rights reserved.
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Book Reviews
by Sondra Eklund