A few days ago I found myself standing in the children’s aisle of a bookshop while Finley bemoaned the lack of decent books for boys his age and my eye wandered in search of something to delight either one of us. And there it was:The Adventures of Miss Petitfour.
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Anyways… Miss Petitfour. Truly she is a darling and if we could bring her to life I know for sure she would be a Brocanteer. She is silly and fanciful, and she goes off on adventures pulled along by her magical tablecloth. You know, like we would if we could?
Miss Petitfour enjoys having adventures that are “just the right size – fitting into a single, magical day.” She is an expert at baking and eating fancy iced cakes, and her favorite mode of travel is par avion. On windy days, she takes her sixteen cats out for an airing: Minky, Misty, Taffy, Purrsia, Pirate, Mustard, Moutarde, Hemdela, Earring, Grigorovitch, Clasby, Captain Captain, Captain Catkin, Captain Clothespin, Your Shyness and Sizzles. With the aid of her favorite
tea party tablecloth as a makeshift balloon, Miss Petitfour and her charges fly over her village, having many little adventures along the way. Join Miss Petitfour and her equally eccentric felines on five magical outings — a search for marmalade, to a spring jumble sale, on a quest for “birthday cheddar”, the retrieval of a lost rare stamp and as they compete in the village’s annual Festooning Festival.
A festooning festival! I don’t know what one of those is but I know I want to go. And a jumble sale! Or as my Nana used to call them: rummage sales. Because you went in to a fusty old church hall and rummaged. Which is I think quite the most perfect sport to indulge in on any given Saturday morning.
But I digress. Because for some reason I am feeling rather giddy this morning. So yes. Miss Petitfour. It’s a charm. The writing is full of lovely, domesticated nonsense and the
Just as one might expect of someone who likes to fly, she had billowy hair that she wore all brushed up in a tumbling bun. The more she brushed up, the more it came down, and buy cheap viagra. She liked to wear a woollen coat that flounced when she walked and jingled with a row of silver buttons. Almost everything she wore (except her shoes) ended in zigzagging scallops of lace and rickrack. She was especially fond of pockets, paisley, playful patterns and anything hand-knitted…
She is lovely. And this is quite the most perfect
Click here to read a sample of The Adventures of Miss Petitfour or buy it on Amazon.Com here or Amazon.Co.Uk here..
Has Finn tried Brian Jacques? Jim Kjelgaard? G. A. Henty? (Rip-roaring historical fiction for boys)
A few others:
Marguerite Henry
Walter Farley
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edith Nesbit
Has Finn tried Brian Jacques? Jim Kjelgaard? G. A. Henty? (Rip-roaring historical fiction for boys)
A few others:
Marguerite Henry
Walter Farley
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edith Nesbit
My 12 YO son loves “The Unwanteds” series by Lisa McMann
My Harry Potter, Percy Jackson loving son also enjoys The Rangers Apprentice books and The History Keepers. Being as he is very dyslexic, I have been reading them aloud to him, and I have enjoyed them too and can highly recommend them.
What an adorable sounding book!
Thanks for recommendation and as luck would have it I can try before I buy at the library!
My son loved the Cherub series and Alex Ryder too!
Diana Wynne Jones–start with the Chrestomanci books
Lloyd Alexander
Alex Garner — The Weirdstone of Brisingamen first
John Bellairs
William Sleator
Trenton Lee Stewart– the Mysterious Benedict Society
Terry Pratchett- Only You Can Save Mankind and the other kid titles
Susan Cooper — the Dark is Rising
Jonathan Stroud — The Screaming Staircase
Edward Eager
E. L. Konigsberg — From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Lian Tanner — Museum of Thieves
Zilpha Keatley Snyder — The Headless Cupid
Kate Thompson — The New Policeman
Marissa Moss – The Pharaoh’s Secret
Diane Duane — So YouWant to be a Wizard
Some of these are American authors and may not be available in the UK but most are Brits
Oooh, I am utterly charmed by Miss Petitfour and all her kitties!
This book sounds absolutely delightful and I just want to snuggle down and read it right now (I’m trying to beat a cold, so am drinking lots of tea and doing as much snuggling under blankets as I can manage with two littles at home). Surprisingly, my county library actually has it, so I’ve put in a request and will have it in a few days with any luck (they normally don’t have the sort of “quirky” books I like to read so this is a nice surprise).
Oh, also, meant to pass on these suggestions for Finn, if he hasn’t read them already: Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising Sequence (I personally think The Dark Is Rising is the best–it’s the second book–but they are all good) and Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain. I also love Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s novel The Yearling, which is a coming-of-age story that takes place in my home state (Florida) so I’m a bit partial, but it also won a Pulitzer so it’s not just me. 🙂 If I think of any others I’ll let you know.
Thank you, I believe I will! Sounds perfect!
And, our twelve year old has recently discovered Sherlock Holmes. I have Ink heart on my bedside table, but . . . sigh . . . I am told it’s youth fiction. I haven’t read it yet so I don’t know whether it’s appropriate, but there is a movie.
Happy reading Finley!
Finn and you might like Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven and Candy Shop Wars series.
I highly recommend The Mysterious Benedict Society for Finn. The books are brain puzzling and rather eccentric – loads of fun to read.
It sounds delightful – I bought a Wendy Andrews book that was so beautifully illustrated it was a delight to read. I think some of the childrens books have such lovely artwork in them.
I can’t help noticing that in the second quotation you have a link that seems out of place. It is a link for viagra, I think someone has hacked your writing somehow! Sorry to say, but I thought you might like to know.