EVERYBODY BONJOURS!

A petite rodent guide, Monsieur LeMousie, takes a charming young girl wearing the colors of the French flag (blue Mary Jane shoes and a red dress with a white heart) and her family on a romp through the sights of Paris, showing her where and how to use the greeting “bonjour.” Simple, bouncy rhymes (“Bonjours high. / Bonjours low. / Bonjours fast. / Bonjours slow. / Everybody bonjours!”) are transformed by McMenemy’s exuberant paper-collage and gouache illustrations. The brilliant splashes of color depict the Eiffel Tower, the steps at a Metro station, traffic encircling the Arc de Triomphe and a café along the Boulevard St.-Germain, among other recognizable landmarks. And when it’s time to bid au revoir, the little girl knows that she’ll greet her grandparents waiting back home with a “hello.” Endpapers with a loosely drawn map depict most of the sites visited by the girl and her family. The next-best thing to an actual visit to Paris. (Picture book. 5-8)