Publisher details

Authors: Júlia Sardà, Kate DiCamillo
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Released: 01 October, 2024
ISBN: 9781536223316

The Hotel Balzaar

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Synopsis

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?

Reviews

3 Reasons Why You Should Read The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo, Illustrated by Júlia Sardà

Review

Review

30 September 2024

3 Reasons Why You Should Read The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo, Illustrated by Júlia Sardà

Kids & Ya

About the author

Júlia Sardà

Books by Júlia Sardà

Júlia Sardà, Kate DiCamillo

The Hotel Balzaar

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About the author

Kate DiCamillo

Kate DiCamillo was born in Philadelphia and moved with her family to Florida when she was five years old. In her twenties, Kate DiCamillo moved to Minnesota. It was this dislocation from her home that inspired Kate to write her first novel, Because of Winn-Dixie. An immediate commercial and critical success, Because of Winn-Dixie went on to become a Newbery Honour Book in 2001 and was subsequently made into a film that was released in 2005. But that wasn’t enough for Kate, and she went on to win the Newbery Medal in 2004 for her book The Tale of Despereaux, a story about an unlikely hero. This was followed by another unusual tale with The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, a story about a china rabbit who learns about love. Kate has also written a series of early chapter-book readers about a lovable pig named Mercy Watson and her fun adventures. Kate lives in Minneapolis, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week.