How ya gonna keep ‘em in the playground, now that they’ve read My Little French Friend? Well, after explaining to your little American wanderlusting wee ones about the travails of air travel these days, and dredging up perennial parental wisecracks about, say, the money tree in the backyard, you may want to give them the stick-around incentive that French Friend brings as being only one volume in a Pals Around the World series.
Indeed, if the annually-issued books — which will recount the history, geography, customs, and landmarks of eight countries around the world — go on to fulfill the promise French Friend offers, the series will go on to make a solid dent in the edification of your armchair offspring by the time they go gallivanting globally, whether with the family or after becoming cosmopolitan castaways from the empty-nest. Besides, as attested to by the representative bonus material and addendums in Volume I, Pals Around the World’s installments will contain plenty of supplemental activities to occupy the time between new Pals and planning out trip itineraries.
Written in a widely-ranging and well-considered manner by Leslye Jacobs, and illustrated in effectively pastel tones by Al Margolis, My Little French Friend is narrated by a little French girl named Veronique, who takes us on a tour of all things France, from her home life in the St. Germain des Pres area of Paris to the beaches of Cannes to winter snowboarding in the Alps. She even takes us on the wayback machine leg which chronicles such notables as Joan of Arc, Voltaire, Louis XIV, Tououse-Lautrec, and many more just short of Pepe Le Pew and Napoleon (as if all is fair except love and war). We even go shopping, including the market square and the bakery; sit down for a family meal with aperitifs; take a school field trip to the Palace of Versailles, going inside to the Hall of Mirrors; and celebrate Bastille Day!
Article comments