Author: Rupert Kingfisher
Publisher: Bloomsbury, A$19.99
Format: Hardcover with dustjacket
Language: English
ISBN: 9781408800546
For ages: 9-12
Type: Junior Fiction
About: When the young and curious Madeleine is abandoned by her parents, she befriends a curious group of enchanting characters including Monsieur Moutarde and Madame Pamplemousse – the greatest culinary genius the world has ever known.
Madame Pamplemousse (with means ‘grapefruit’ in French) owns a captivating café in the famed Montmartre district of Paris, alongside business partner Moutarde (‘mustard’). Here in this café lies a magnificent coffee machine capable of making an elixir that will transport Madeleine to other times – to Jurassic times, to Scotland in the 1930s, even to the time of the mighty Sphinx.
But when Paris and its historic monuments are marked for descruction by a corrupt Parisian government, Madeleine could never imagine the mind-boggling adventures in store.
Accompanied by gorgeously retro ink illustrations by Sue Hellard, this book is a feat in extraordinary imagination. A truly wonderful tale, in the style of the fabulously historical and nonsensical stories of yore, it will absolutely delight any reader intent on taking an unexpected trip – to fanciful literary satisfaction.
Wonderful stuff.