Meeting Cezanne

From the author of War Horse comes a gentle, evocative story of a young city boy’s summer in 1960s rural Provence.

When Yannick learns that he is to stay with his aunt Mathilde and her family in the South of France, he cannot believe his luck. He has rarely been out of Paris, and if the paintings in his mother’s beloved Cézanne book are to be believed, surely Provence is paradise itself. So begins an idyllic month for the young city boy: roaming the gentle hills and rolling valleys and daydreaming about his beautiful cousin Amandine; helping at his aunt and uncle’s bustling village inn; feeling that he has come to the most wonderful place in the world. But one evening the spell is broken when an important local comes for dinner and Yannick accidentally destroys a precious drawing the man leaves behind. How can the devastated Yannick make things right again — and what surprising discoveries might come of it?

Michael Morpurgo, the British Children’s Laureate from 2003 to 2005 and the recipient of many awards, has written more than one hundred books, including Singing for Mrs. Pettigrew, illustrated by Peter Bailey; The Mozart Question, illustrated by Michael Foreman; and I Believe in Unicorns, illustrated by Gary Blythe. His hugely popular novel War Horse was made into both a critically acclaimed stage play and a highly successful film. Michael Morpurgo lives in Devon, England.

François Place has illustrated many books, including Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse. He lives in France.