Crepes by Suzette

by Monica Wellington

Book Overview

Suzette, the crpe maker, sells her delicacies in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. As she goes from place to place, readers are treated to a variety of Parisian scenes and a series of customers inspired by figures in famous French paintings. Full color.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525469346
• ISBN13: 9780525469346
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Dutton Children's Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.3" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 3 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

a child's view of Paris

What a delightful book! I was guest reader in my grandson's first grade class and chose this to read. (I am also a retired French teacher.) The children loved it! There is a smattering of intro French, great photos of Parisian landmarks and sketches of French art masterpieces posing as characters in Suzette's story. Plus, the book even has a recipe for ... crepes!

Multi-Level Masterpiece

This is one of my favorite kid's books about Paris. It's clever artistic masterpiece on many levels: incorporating watercolor, photo collage, and drawings of masterpieces. Geographically this book covers: the Luxembourg Gardens, Notre Dame, Louvre, Tuileries, Place Vendome, L'Opera, & the Eiffel Tower. Suzette moves to each location and serves up different types of crepes and a drawing of a different animal appears. These are good for counting or French vocabulary practice. Along the bottom of each page the author inserts related artwork, such as French stamps, newspapers, coins, children's writing. The author has drawn simple versions of masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa and Degas' Little Dancer. I found images of each of these online and asked my 4 & 6 year old girls to find them in the book. Since reading the book, the Three Musicians by Picasso was a subject in the first grader's art class at school and we saw La Revue Blance by Toulouse Lautrec at Albi. Of course we had to make our own crepes at home and savor them on the Rue de Rivoli in Paris. There's a French glossary at the back and a map showing where Suzette went. We used that as our guide for creating our own map (a cutting and gluing project in preparation for visiting Paris).

Nice introduction to Paris

Visually, this book is stunning. And the idea is sweet. (no pun intended) But it doesn't quite get 5 stars because the story is too simple to maintain interest for repeated readings. Still, in a small group setting, as an introduction to Paris, this book would work nicely. And who wouldn't love a followup with real crepes! Couple this with THE COWS ARE GOING TO PARIS (David Kirby and Allen Woodman)for a more comical adventure!

Crepes by Suzette

My children are 4 and 2-1/2 yrs old. They love this book and it helps to reinforce the French that they learn in Preschool. We read this book every night and I would highly recommend it. The book is primarily in English with one French word per page. At the end of the book, it has a the translation and a recipe for crepes. The artwork throughout the book is beautiful!