Claris: Holiday Heist: The Chicest Mouse in Paris

by Megan Hess

Overview

A sweet little mouse takes on a cheeky cat burglar with holiday cheer! Can Claris and Monsieur save the day – the New York way? 

The fourth Claris book from acclaimed fashion illustrator Megan Hess. 
The best-selling Claris series follows an adorable mouse who moves to Paris to follow her fashion dreams, for fans of Eloise and Olivia. Destined to delight fashion-obsessed readers of all ages!

A quarter of a million Claris books in print! 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781760504953
Publisher:	Hardie Grant
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	559,758
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.45(d)
Age Range:	3 - 8 Years

About the Author

Megan Hess is an acclaimed fashion illustrator who works with some of the most prestigious fashion designers and luxury brands around the world, such as Chanel, Dior, Cartier, Montblanc, and Tiffany & Co. She is the official illustrator for Bloomingdales New York, and completed the cover artwork for all of Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell's books, as well as a private commission for Michelle Obama, and has collaborated with Gwyneth Paltrow for the 'Blo' Blow Dry Bar campaign. Claris: The Chicest Mouse in Paris is her first children's book series.

Editorial Reviews

10/16/2020

K-Gr 2—Fashionable mouse Claris and her natty cat pal Monsieur return for the fourth installment of this high-fashion picture book series. In this caper, the pair are visiting New York City for the Christmas holidays and, while out shopping alongside the human family they live with, encounter some cold, hungry mice on the street and witness a jewel theft. Claris and Monsieur pursue the dastardly cat burglar through the festive streets of New York City, return the stolen jewel, and ultimately inspire the thief to reform. In the end, they celebrate the holiday with the street mice, bringing them food, clothes, and holiday decorations while opining, "What matters most is not what you can take/ but good times with friends. Oh the memories you'll make!" Some readers may pause at the way the human child Claris lives with is referred to as a brat, although she lives up to the moniker with her Veruca Salt-like antics. Elegant illustrations are the real star of the story, which is studded with luxury brand names and high-fashion frocks, from Cartier to Louboutin. Using a limited palette of black, white, red, green, and gold, the illustrations are a visual feast for fashionistas young and old. VERDICT A good-hearted story meets high fashion in the city; purchase where label-friendly readers yearn for brand-name dropping.—Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Lib., MN

School Library Journal

2020-08-18
The fourth title in the Claris Collection features a Christmastime crime.

Claris the Parisian mouse is delighted to be in New York City with her feline pal, Monsieur, and their human family—though the child in the family is called “the Brat” and she lives up to the name. While this moniker may be off-putting, the rhymed verse peppered with French phrases largely focuses on Claris and her escapades in the big city. The rather cloying tone seems aimed more at adult fashionistas than child readers, as designer name-dropping abounds, and Hess uses her background in fashion illustration to depict Claris getting all gussied up to go shopping. While she and the family await their driver, the très chic rodent spies homeless mice shivering in the cold and begging for food. Their plight weighs on Claris as she heads to Cartier, but her attention soon shifts to the titular holiday heist: While in the glamorous shop, she and Monsieur see another pet, this one in a carrying case, swipe a ruby ring. They pursue the thief and reclaim the jewelry before the person who brought it to the shop notices it’s missing. The book ends with Claris giving aid to the homeless mice, though this subplot seems forced and superfluous to the rest of the book. Claris and Monsieur’s human family presents White; there are some characters of color in the background.

Not one to hurry to swipe off the shelf. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews