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#kidsfiction
review
Nebklvr
The Hotel Balzaar | Kate DiCamillo
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Pickpick

This was a good old-fashioned type of children's story. As a read aloud it would be fantastic! The pace was a bit slow and the stories felt a bit disjointed for the independent reader.

review
LaurenAsh
The Hotel Balzaar | Kate DiCamillo
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Pickpick

Okay, when is the next Norendy Tale going to be available?! My kids and I whip through these magical books by the incomparable Kate DiCamillo. We love them so.

review
monalyisha
The Hotel Balzaar | Kate DiCamillo
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Pickpick

I‘m not convinced the Norendy Tales are for children nor am I unconvinced. I could see them being just as soon discarded for being confusing (and sad) as I could see them being treasured despite the confusion (and perhaps because they are a little melancholy). Regardless, they are for me. This installment reminds me of Leonard Cohen‘s Anthem: “Ring the bells that still can ring /Forget your perfect offering/ There is a crack…👇🏻

monalyisha …a crack in everything / That‘s how the light gets in.” In one of the seven stories that The Countess tells Marta, a talking fox blesses a young girl for her kindness by gifting her with the ability “to see a dazzling light behind every common thing,” which is, of course, THE gift. ✨ 3w
Clare-Dragonfly I think kids can handle confusing stories better than adults. So much is confusing when you‘re a kid that you just let it wash over you! 3w
monalyisha @Clare-Dragonfly Sometimes! 3w
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quote
BarbaraJean
The Hotel Balzaar | Kate DiCamillo
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“It takes no courage at all to doubt, Marta,” she said. “And we are not beyond rescue. We are never beyond rescue.”

quote
BarbaraJean
The Hotel Balzaar | Kate DiCamillo
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“There are days,” said the countess as she put on a hat that featured a yellow bird, “when the soul can be rescued from despair by the right hat. Although some days, of course the soul seems beyond rescue, and then there is nothing to do except to be patient and wait for the light to return, with or without a hat upon your head.”

This, thought Marta, is one of those days.

quote
BarbaraJean
The Hotel Balzaar | Kate DiCamillo
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Pay attention, my love. Note everything for me. Tell me where you see the light seep through.

review
BarbaraJean
The Hotel Balzaar | Kate DiCamillo
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Pickpick

I love Kate DiCamillo so, so much. This is another book I want to hug.

Marta‘s mother is a maid at the Hotel Balzaar, and Marta must spend her days staying quiet and invisible, certainly not bothering any of the hotels‘ guests. Until a countess and her parrot arrive and the countess singles Marta out to tell her a series of stories—each to be told in its proper order, at the proper time. ⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) The stories frustrate Marta‘s expectations as she struggles with her own sadness and worries over her father, who is missing. I loved watching the way Marta is transformed as the stories gradually reveal their truths. Such a wonderful exploration of the power of stories and human connection. 1mo
37 likes1 stack add1 comment
quote
BarbaraJean
The Hotel Balzaar | Kate DiCamillo
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“You are so concerned with how things end! It is wearisome, this obsession of yours. Don‘t you understand that nothing ever truly ends?”

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BarbaraJean
The Hotel Balzaar | Kate DiCamillo
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“…life will never allow itself to be straightened, and it will drive you mad, a little, if you keep trying to straighten it. …Life always wins. Life and its crooked lines will always win.”

blurb
willaful
The Moon in the Cloud | Rosemary Harris
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Someone mentioned their favorite book with “moon“ in the title, which made me think of mine. I feel so lucky my childhood library had this somewhat obscure series! (My own copy has no bookcover, so I found this one online.)

#HauntedShelf #FrightClub #BookScavengerHunt “Moon“

LeahBergen I only heard about this book a little while ago! I must hunt down a copy if it‘s a favourite of yours. 2mo
willaful @LeahBergen I had to special order my copies from England! But that was a very long time ago and it might be more available now. P.S. I'm very flattered. 😊 (edited) 2mo
25 likes2 comments