Paris by Phone

December 15, 2020
A telephone transports a girl to her favorite place. Paris-loving Josephine Harris constantly compares that city to her home--unfavorably. (It's never explained how Josephine has acquired her enthusiasm for all things French, but it sure is energetic.) Annoyed and on a deadline, Mommy sends Josephine to her room. Incensed, Josephine picks up her phone to call for a replacement parent. After dozing off, she awakens in Paris and is welcomed by Odile, a Frenchwoman who invites Josephine to join her and her son on a city tour; as they go, Odile teaches her French. The adventure includes a visit to an art museum, the ballet, a cafe, and the Eiffel Tower; Odile urges Josephine to remain in Paris permanently. In the end, our heroine decides home is best; she misses Mommy. Trying the phone again at bedtime, Josephine awakens and...voil�! Back home, another international destination teases. This is meant to be lighthearted fare, and it's narrated in jaunty (though sometimes clunky) verse. Strolling beside the Seine with her companions, Josephine learns that France is "ze nation / zat is always on vacation." Odile's stereotypical fake-French accent may strike more than a few as insulting. Quirky, colorful illustrations are expressive; familiar Parisian landscapes are depicted appealingly. The main characters present White, but readers will spot racially diverse boulevardiers in the background. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 48.6% of actual size.) Traveling via telephone sounds nifty; it doesn't work, though, in this skippable story. (Picture book. 4-7)

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January 4, 2021
Having shown adults the ways of French parenting in 2014’s Bringing Up Bébé, Druckerman now turns to the picture book set. Her protagonist, Josephine, yearns for la vie Parisienne: “In France, the kids eat chocolate rolls/ and take their poodles out for strolls./ They stay up late to roast their snails/ and send each other French emails.” After quarreling with her mother, Jo is transported by a toy phone to the Parisian home of chic Odile du Chateau du French Bun (“From the red of her lips to the beige of her sweater,/ she’s like Josephine’s mother, but quite a bit better”) and her son Pierre. Odile speaks in an exaggerated French accent as Jo eats an oyster at a café and takes in the view from the Eiffel Tower. But soon she realizes that her mother and home—“the place they know you by heart”—are where she belongs. The sleek lines and stylish irreverence of Chaud’s (Scared of the Dark? It’s Really Scared of You) gouache and pencil cartooning lend élan to the standard whirlwind tour, but budding boulevardiers might be better served by Leslie Kimmelman and Sarah McMenemy’s Everybody Bonjours! Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Suzanne Gluck, William Morris Endeavor. Illustrator’s agent: Debbie Bibo, Debbie Bibo Agency.

January 1, 2021

K-Gr 2-"Josephine Harris really likes Paris," but her mom, in track suit and slippers, is much too busy working at her computer to indulge. Fine. Jo dials up a better mom on her phone and finds herself larking about the city of her dreams with the stylish Odile and her son Pierre. An art museum, the ballet, oysters at a caf�, the Eiffel Tower-Josephine does it all and learns a little French until even "ze nation zat is always on vacation" can no longer make up for being homesick. Her phone sees to it that Jo wakes up in her own bed the next morning, but Rome is not out of the question for a future night's adventure. The rollicking text is written in verse that changes rhyme schemes and doesn't always scan, creating some challenges for reading aloud, but listeners will catch the vivacious spirit of the slim story. That energy is greatly enhanced by Chaud's illustrations, which combine a judicious use of patterns with a lively, child's-eye view of Paris. Worked in gouache and colored pencil, vignettes and double spreads abound with Parisian detail while keeping the focus on the three expressive characters with their large eyes and wiry bodies. VERDICT More of a homage to the City of Lights than a character-driven story, this additonal purchase is an effervescent viewing and listening experience.-Jan Aldrich Solow, formerly Fairfax County Public Sch., VA

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