The Girl and the Cathedral: The Story of Notre Dame de Paris

by Nicolas Jeter, Sara Ugolotti (Illustrator)

Overview

*"This emotional and beautifully illustrated tale about Paris, the cathedral, and its people will make a great addition to any library."—School Library Journal, starred review

Winner, 2020 Maxy Awards, Children’s Award

On an island in the Seine, a little girl plants a garden—but not a garden of flowers. It will be a garden of people, she says: Paris. And in the center of that garden will stand its guardian, a grand cathedral carved from stone and roofed with light: the majestic Notre Dame de Paris.

Alas, the garden will change, as people must. The girl sees kings and revolutions, empires and democracies, wars and tragedies. There are the best of times, and there are the worst. Through it all, the light of Notre Dame keeps hope bright.

But when fire strikes Notre Dame itself, the little girl is grief stricken. It seems all light has gone out—until her beloved people discover what she has planted within them all along.

In the spirit of The Little Prince, The Girl and the Cathedral is a moving story about life, freedom, love, loss, and the glory of new beginnings. It is a story about Notre Dame, but much deeper, it is a story about all that Notre Dame stands for.

The book includes a fold-out timeline of Notre Dame's history with period paintings and photographs. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733633550
Publisher:	Bushel & Peck Books
Publication date:	04/15/2020
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

A graduate of Brigham Young University's law school, Nicolas Jeter lived several years in Paris and is fluent in French. His books include The Girl in the Cathedral, My First Book of French, and The Worst Wizard series. Nicolas lives and works in Texas, where he also enjoys reading and playing the piano. 

Sara Ugolotti was born in a small town in Italy. In 2012 she obtained a degree in architecture from the University of Parma, and in 2015 she earned a degree in Illustration from the International School of Comics in Reggio Emilia. Specializing in children's books, she has worked as a freelance illustrator for clients worldwide, including Auzou Editions, IglooBooks, Il Battello a Vapore, Jilin Publishing Group Ltd, Oxford University Press, Rusconi Libri, and Usborne Publishing.

Editorial Reviews

"A stunningly beautiful, wonderfully entertaining, thoroughly heartwarming, and unique tribute to the cathedral of Notre Dame, "The Girl and the Cathedral: The Story of Notre Dame de Paris" by the team of author/storyteller Nicolas Jeter and artist/illustrator Sara Ugolotti is an especially, unreservedly recommended addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections." —Midwest Book Review

"This emotional and beautifully illustrated tale about Paris, the cathedral, and its people will make a great addition to any library." —Katie Callahan, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD, School Library Journal (starred)

Named a Children's Finalist in the 2020 Maxy Awards.

*"This emotional and beautifully illustrated tale about Paris, the cathedral, and its people will make a great addition to any library."—School Library Journal, starred review

From the Publisher

04/17/2020

Gr 3–5—This fictional tale based on the story of the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral is told through the eyes of a young girl. Ugolotti's mesmerizing and colorful illustrations draw the reader in from the very beginning, focusing at first on the girl, who is busy planting seeds. The unnamed girl pulls a large seed out of her pocket, explaining that it's a seed like no other and that it allows her to plant anything she wants. She wants to create something for the people of Paris, her people. The seed grows and instead of a flower, a great cathedral begins to form, the Notre Dame, the lady of Paris. Throughout the story, Paris and its people continue to evolve through wars and industrialization. The girl persists through it all and continues to plant seeds, which readers are told represent courage, hope, and freedom. All the while, the Notre Dame cathedral watches over the people of Paris. Toward the end of the story, dark, haunting images of red flames flicker through the tall columns of the cathedral as the people of Paris cry, depicting the fire that swept through the cathedral in 2019. At the end is a bright, golden image of the people of Paris singing in unison around the cathedral. Also included is a time line of the cathedral's history. VERDICT This emotional and beautifully illustrated tale about Paris, the cathedral, and its people will make a great addition to any library.—Katie Callahan, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD

School Library Journal