Synopses & Reviews
"A bona fide knockout. C'est formidable!" declares
Publishers Weekly in a starred review.
In Paris, France, there lived a humble postman named Lalouche. He was small, but his hands were nimble, his legs were fast, and his arms were strong. When his job was replaced by an electric car, he turned to boxing to support himself and his pet finch, Genevieve. But—"You? A boxer?" the fighters asked. "I could sneeze and knock you down!" Still, Lalouche refused to give up. And perhaps small Lalouche was just nimble . . . just fast . . . and just strong enough to beat his fierce competitors. This is a marvelous story, full of humor and heart, and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, winner of a New York Times Best Illustrated Award.
Includes an author's note with historical information about French boxing and electric cars.
Synopsis
Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator Sophie Blackall brings to life this marvelous story, which is full of humor and heart. In Paris, France, there lived a humble postman named Lalouche. He was small, but his hands were nimble, his legs were fast, and his arms were strong. When his job was replaced by an electric car, he turned to boxing to support himself and his pet finch, Genevieve. But--"You? A boxer?" the fighters asked. "I could sneeze and knock you down " Still, Lalouche refused to give up. And perhaps small Lalouche was just nimble . . . just fast . . . and just strong enough to beat his fierce competitors.
Includes an author's note with historical information about French boxing and electric cars.
"A bona fide knockout. C'est formidable " Publishers Weekly, Starred
Synopsis
In Paris, France, there lived a humble postman named Lalouche. He was small, but his hands were nimble, his legs were fast, and his arms were strong. When his job was replaced by an electric car, he turned to boxing to support himself and his pet finch, Genevieve. But—"You? A boxer?" the fighters asked. "I could sneeze and knock you down!" Still, Lalouche refused to give up. And perhaps small Lalouche was just nimble . . . just fast . . . and just strong enough to beat his fierce competitors. This is a marvelous story, full of humor and heart, and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, winner of a New York Times Best Illustrated Award. Includes an author's note with historical information about French boxing and electric cars.
About the Author
MATTHEW OLSHAN is the author of Finn: A Novel, a modern telling of Mark Twain's
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with girls as protagonists rather than boys. His latest novel
The Flown Sky, is a fantasy in the tradition of C.S. Lewis's Narnia Chronicles. Olshan lives in Baltimore, but also has a little farm in southcentral Pennsylvania, called Pencil Creek. Visit him at MatthewOlshan.com
SOPHIE BLACKALL received the New York Times Best Illustrated Award for her book Big Red Lollipop, and won the Ezra Jack Keats Award for New Talent. She is the illustrator of Meet Wild Boars, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book; Jumpy Jack & Googily; What's So Bad About Being an Only Child?; Summer Is Summer; Edwin Speaks Up, and others. The Mighty Lalouche was written specifically for Sophie Blackall, after the author discovered that she collected old pictures of boxers, especially "extremely skinny ones with big billowing boxing trunks." A native of Australia, she lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit her at SophieBlackall.com