Mr Leon's Paris

Bonjour....I'm Monsieur Leon Mr Leon, a Parisian taxi driver of many years, spends his days ferrying colourful characters to designations corresponding to his passengers' personalities and nationalities. From behind the wheel of his little yellow taxi, Mr Leon travels the world, from the North Pole to the Eiffel Tower to the Congo. Until that is, Mr Leon decides it's time to explore the real places after which the streets in Paris are named. After putting his taxi up for sale, Mr Leon sets sail for Liberty Street and beyond; even the moon if the wind is good... An extraordinary illustrator's UK debut. This book contains a new map of Paris drawn by Barroux specially for this English language edition. The hardback edition maintains the original, beautiful French end papers. AUTHOR: Born in Paris, Barroux spent most of his childhood in North Africa. On returning to France, Barroux studied photography, art, sculpture, and architecture at the famous Ecole Estienne and Ecole Boule. He went on to work as an art director in Paris, Montreal and New-York. While in Montreal, Barroux began illustrating by creating linocut images. He is now very well-known in France and North America for his illustrations for children's books and the media. His work has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post and Forbes; and he has illusrated many children's books. Motivated by interesting colour palette and the imagination, Barroux prefers to work in traditional mediums, mixing linocut, pencil and acrylic. REVIEWS: After thirty years of driving his taxi Mr Leon wants to move on and to visit some of the places after which the streets of Paris he has traversed so often are named. Children will love spotting them in the splendid picture map of Paris on the endpaper ? drawn specially for this edition of the book. In short, this is a sophisticated and wonderfully amusing creation which will appeal to people of different ages." -Books For Keeps, May 2012 "Paris is beautifully rendered in moody beige, blue and orange in this retro-styled tale of French taxi driver Mr Leon and his multifarious taxi journeys around the city. His eccentric array of passengers - Jeanette the hairdresser going to Scissor Row, a mummy going to Pyramid Street via Cairo Place or even the Devil himself motoring over to Hell's Passage - characterise the idiosyncratic city, presented here in loving and stylish detail. Look out for the beautiful end papers, which include a hand-drawn map of Paris's streets: children will enjoy spotting the various locations mentioned in the story. Translated into English by award-winning translator Sarah Aridzzone, this is a sophisticated and stylish picture book to be savoured again and again." -Booktrust Colour illustrations