It's Alice's birthday! A beautiful spring afternoon in Paris -- what
could be better? Little does she know that her friend has arranged some
surprises!
It's Alice's birthday! But her friend Gertrude seems to have forgotten.
No matter, Alice goes out and enjoys her day just the same. A beautiful
spring afternoon in Paris -- what could be better? Little does she know
that her dear friend has a few surprises up her sleeve.
While Alice spends the day walking around Paris -- riding a carousel in
the park and watching a puppet show -- Gertrude turns her attention to
the kitchen. She is determined to make a lavish dinner with all of
Alice's favorite things and write a poem to match the occasion.
But the lure of the perfect poetic line proves to be too distracting,
and just as Alice's day takes an exciting and unexpected turn,
Gertrude's big dinner falls all to pieces. The poem turns out
beautifully, of course, but the house is a bit of a mess. It's a good
thing Alice doesn't mind cleaning up. And that she has such a good
brownie recipe for their guests.
Inspired by the lives of artist Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas,
Monica Kulling's warm and whimsical narration is perfectly balanced by
Qin Leng's bright and energetic illustrations. This is a sweetly joyful
story of love, friendship and creative inspiration.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language
Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between
illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a
story an illustration depicts).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key
details.
