Loula and the Sister Recipe

by Anne Villeneuve

Overview

Fed up with her terrible triplet brothers, Loula decides it's time her parents made her a sister. But they explain it isn't that simple --- it takes special “ingredients.” With Gilbert, the chauffeur, the plucky girl gathers everything she needs. Then she waits and waits, and nothing happens ... until a hungry visitor arrives. Sweet with a generous dollop of humor, this is a satisfying story about not getting exactly what you want and perhaps enjoying it all the more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771382731
Publisher:	Kids Can Press, Limited
Publication date:	08/01/2014
Series:	Loula
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	NOOK Book
File size:	32 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Anne Villeneuve has written and illustrated close to 40 books, created games for magazines, illustrated for newspapers and designed cake boxes for a bakery. Over the years, her work has earned her many distinguished recognitions, such as the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Québec/Wallonie-Bruxelles Literary Award in 2000, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award in 2005 and 2009, and the Mr. Christie’s Book Award in 1998.

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2014
PreS-Gr 1—Stuck with hellion triplet brothers who exclude her from their rowdy games, Loula dreams of having a sister who'd appreciate gentler pursuits. When she asks her parents for a new sibling, they hem and haw and tell her that "making a sister…it's like making a cake." According to them, the process requires the perfect ingredients—butterflies in the stomach, a candlelit supper, kisses and hugs, and a mama and papa. Encouraged, intrepid Loula ropes the family chauffeur into helping her acquire the necessary items. Her efforts pay off, though not quite in the way she expected. Instead of producing a sister, Loula's moonlit feast attracts a huge stray that, despite being a "mister," turns out to be the perfect companion for the little girl. Villeneuve's dainty ink lines awash with soft watercolors dance off the page, as exuberant as little Loula. Many small details, such as Loula tottering in her mother's heels across the verso or her pink toy cat, add extra humor and charm to this sweet and funny story. Though young readers might miss the joke behind the "sister recipe," they are sure to be amused by Loula's whimsical antics and relate to her need to find that perfect friend.—Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY

School Library Journal

2014-06-25
Annoyed by her triplet brothers, Loula begs her parents for a little sister and learns that making a baby is like making a cake—you need just the right ingredients. A coy list follows: One needs a full moon, chocolate, butterflies, a candlelit supper, kisses and hugs. Such saccharine winking occurs above the heads of little listeners, who might squint befuddled for just a moment, but, quick as lightning, Loula dashes off with her gallant and ever accommodating chauffeur, Gilbert, to gather up the necessary items. Loose watercolor-and-pen-and-ink illustrations sit softly within clouds of white space, their washes of color and lines assured while uninhibited, befitting this delightful story in which a child's flights of fancy and fantasy drift along happily unchecked. Gilbert, a long, lean string bean of a man, often bows toward little Loula, listening intently and deferentially following her (misguided) instructions. The pair's moonlit dinner seems a bust, until a hungry hound turns up to both gobble up the meal and serve as the sister Loula's always wanted—even though he's a mister.Children yearning for a reversal of authority, or at least for an adult to go along with their brand of make-believe, will nod approvingly and smile often at Loula's confounding cookery. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews

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