Product details
- ISBN 9781529529166
- Weight: 150g
- Dimensions: 127 x 193mm
- Publication Date: 01 Jan 2026
- Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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In a wise and magical follow-up to the critically acclaimed The Puppets of Spelhorst, Kate DiCamillo revisits the land of Norendy, where tales swirl within tales – and where every moment is a story in the making.
At the Hotel Balzaar, Marta’s mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform and instructs Marta to roam as she will ... but quietly – invisibly – like a mouse. While her mother cleans rooms, Marta slips down the back staircase to the grand lobby to chat with the bellman, study the painting of an angel’s wing over the fireplace, and watch a cat chase a mouse around the face of the grandfather clock, all while dreaming of the return of her soldier father. One day, a mysterious countess with a parrot checks in, promising a story – in fact, seven stories in all. As the stories unfold, Marta begins to wonder: could the secret to her father’s disappearance lie in the countess’s tales?
Kate DiCamillo is one of America’s most beloved storytellers, author of The Tale of Despereaux and Flora and Ulysses, both of which have been awarded the prestigious Newbery Medal; Because of Winn-Dixie, which received a Newbery Honor; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; and the bestselling Mercy Watson series.
Júlia Sardà is a Spanish artist and the author-illustrator of The Queen in the Cave, as well as the illustrator of Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein by Linda Bailey, The Liszts by Kyo Maclear, The Wolf's Secret by Nicolas Digard and Myriam Dahman, Moving the Millers' Minnie Moore Mine Mansion by Dave Eggers and a number of classics, including Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. Find Júlia on Instagram as @juliasardaportabella.
