The Adventures of Miss Petitfour

Starred in CCBC’S Best Books for Kids & Teens (2016)
Selection 2018 – BookRiot 50 Must-Read Canadian Children’s and YA Books

“Its comedic irreverence and spirited play with words, names, and pirate lore will remind readers of Mary Poppins and Pippi Longstocking. Children will savor the whimsical language and conversational tone as well as the nameless village with its wordless wooden signs."

“Block's charming, full-color illustrations complement the tales in a decidedly mid-20th-century modern style . . . An homage to classic fantasies for an audience willing to suspend all disbelief and just go along for the ride.”

“In her first children’s book, adult author Michaels presents five stories driven equally by whimsy and self-aware humor . . . Michaels is fond of digressions, one of many vocabulary words she highlights as the narrative comments on the peculiarities of storytelling . . . Block’s delicate color illustrations are ideally suited to Miss Petitfour’s subdued and decidedly eccentric adventures, which involve everything from an empty marmalade jar to a lost stamp.”

“Toronto’s new poet laureate is known for her moody adult poetry and fiction, so it came as a surprise when her kidlit debut turned out to be a fun and whimsical confection of sweet stories about a young woman and her 16 cats who take to the sky using a tablecloth as a sort of non-hot air balloon. Full of delightful language that skips and lilts off the page and the tongue, Michaels’s first book for kids might even be better than the stuff she writes for adults.”

“The Adventures of Miss Petitfour is a sweet and witty little book, great for kids who already love tea parties, arts and crafts and cats, and those who have yet to discover life’s smaller pleasures.”