The Hotel Balzaar

Kate DiCamillo, Júlia Sardà

$24.99

Hardback

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English

Walker Books
02 October 2024

Children's & Educational; Fantasy & magical realism (Children's&YA); Historical fiction (Children's&YA)

Series: The Norendy Tales

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Marta is a quiet child who must remain out of the way while her mother works as a cleaner and maid in the grand Hotel Balzaar. Her father went off with the army but hasn't returned yet, and she waits and wants to know how he will find her again. She fills her days walking up and down the staircase, watching the big clock and pondering the painting with the angel wing. Then one day a Countess with lots of luggage and a bright parrot takes an interest in the child, inviting her to her suite where she relates one strange tale every day.

Illustrated by Julia Sarda, this fable-like story is full of wonder and strangeness, as is life itself... Ages 8-11 Lindy

In a wise and magical follow-up to The Puppets of Spelhorst, Kate DiCamillo revisits the land of Norendy, where tales swirl within tales—and every moment is a story in the making.

At the Hotel Balzaar, Marta’s mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform, and instructs Marta to roam as she will but quietly, invisibly—like a little mouse. While her mother cleans rooms, Marta slips down the back staircase to the grand lobby to chat with the bellman, study the painting of an angel’s wing over the fireplace, and watch a cat chase a mouse around the face of the grandfather clock, all the while dreaming of the return of her soldier father, who has gone missing. One day, a mysterious countess with a parrot checks in, promising a story—in fact, seven stories in all, each to be told in its proper order. As the stories unfold, Marta begins to wonder: could the secret to her father’s disappearance lie in the countess’s tales? Book two in a trio of novellas bound by place and mood—with elegant line art by Júlia Sardà—The Hotel Balzaar masterfully juggles yearning and belief, shining light into every dark corner.

By: Kate DiCamillo
Illustrated by: Júlia Sardà
Imprint: Walker Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 135mm, Spine: 11mm
Weight: 242g
ISBN: 9781529523782
ISBN 10: 1529523788
Series: The Norendy Tales
Pages: 160
Publication Date: 02 October 2024
Recommended Age: From 7 to 10 years
Audience: Children/juvenile , English as a second language
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Kate DiCamillo is one of America’s most beloved storytellers. She is a former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a two-time Newbery Medalist. Born in Philadelphia, she grew up in Florida and now lives in Minneapolis. Júlia Sardà is the illustrator of many books for young readers, including The Queen in the Cave, which she also wrote, and Moving the Millers’ Minnie Moore Mine Mansion: A True Story by Dave Eggers. She lives in Barcelona.

Reviews for The Hotel Balzaar

In this follow-up to The Puppets of Spelhorst, DiCamillo showcases the capacity for storytelling to soothe and inspire hope in a pithy, nuanced tale peppered with gentle humor and enduring grace. Striking illustrations by Sardà (Godfather Death) recall woodcutting and elegant art deco line art. * Kirkus *