Monsieur Pierre

Monsieur Pierre by Anne Dana is a children’s book that takes you on the journey of an octopus living in Paris, France. As a baby octopus, Pierre was fished out of the ocean and placed into a fountain in Paris. There, he met two fish named Mademoiselles Poissons. Despite his efforts, Pierre could not get the fish to like him. Without any friends, Pierre decided to look elsewhere in Paris. He travelled to a cafe, but no one would sit with him. He travelled to the Eiffel Tower, but no one took pictures of him. He went to the Louvre, but the painting didn’t smile back. Lastly, he went to the Notre Dame, but the gargoyles were too scary to be considered friends. Pierre finally decided to give up and go back home to the fountain, when he overheard two children arguing over what souvenir to bring back home. “Take me!” suggested Pierre, and so they did. Pierre was nervous on the plane to California, but with his new friends, he knew he’d be fine. Pierre was very happy in California and even got visitors from France time to time.

I would recommend this book for children who are interested in learning about new places. This book takes you through Paris and teaches you a few things about the wonderful city. Monsieur Pierre would be best read by children 4 and up, or have a parent read to their child, just because the words seem to be a bit advanced and because of the amount of words on each page. The illustrations in the book are lagging in detail and preciseness, but I don’t think a child would care as much as an adult, but they could use some work. As for the story, it was fun to read, but the ending doesn’t really sync up with the whole story. Pierre tries to make friends throughout Paris and fails to do so, but in the end, there are people from Paris who come to visit him in California. Certain things about this book could be fixed, but overall, the book was fun to read.