Review by Booklist Review
There is a village on a hill by a wind-swept ocean side. The Polka-Dot Apron Café is the heart of that village, and Adele the café owner, with a single rose tucked into her hair is the heart of the café. She brings joy and sunshine wherever she goes . . . except when it rains. When it rains, Adele is miserable. Then one day, someone leaves a pair of pink rain boots at the café. They are exactly her size, and no one claims them. The next week, a pink coat. By the time someone leaves a pink umbrella, she has figured out her secret admirer, and not even the rain can stop her smile. Callot's charming friendship tale is told through the classic structure of a sweeping Hollywood romance. Meanwhile, Godbout's delicate, pink-filled colored-pencil illustrations have the classic charm of a Disney film (unsurprisingly, Godbout studied traditional animation in Montreal). Each illustration is simple, elegant, and swelling with the emotion of the text. Overall, this book is as sweet and pretty as the flowers in its pages.--Worthington, Becca Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Understated text and gauzy pencil-and-pastel artwork transport readers to a seaside village where social life revolves around the Polka-Dot Apron, a café run by a young woman named Adele. "It's where everyone meets," writes French author Callot. "Where they cry, laugh, yell, argue and love." Adele herself "is the village's sun-lively, sweet and sparkling," but her spirit plummets whenever the weather turns rainy: on one gray day, Godbout (When Santa Was a Baby) shows her scowling from beneath a floral magenta quilt, refusing to open the café. Over a few sunny days, rain boots, a raincoat, and umbrella-all bright pink-show up at the Polka-Dot Apron. Readers will likely guess who is responsible (a handsome handyman named Lucas) before Adele does, and a subdued romantic undercurrent swells as she begins to appreciate the rain: "The wind was fresh, the drops slid off the leaves, the snails were out." It's a languid story, and mystery rain gear is a pretty low-key hook, but it's also an atmospheric portrait of village life and the small actions that build loving communities and relationships. Ages 6-9. Illustrator's agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Translated from the French, this Canadian import stars Adele, owner of the Polka-Dot Apron café. Her establishment is the center of this seaside town's life, hosting a market, cinema night, and parties each week. The jaunty brunette is loved by all: she is "the village's sun-lively, sweet and sparkling." A grocer from a neighboring community is particularly fond of her. Lucas runs the market, bringing food and flowers and a bouquet or two just for Adele. Listeners may figure out before Adele that it is he who starts leaving presents. Knowing that she abhors rain (sometimes she doesn't even emerge from the covers when it is dreary), he first deposits pink boots with images of the sun etched in the soles. These are followed by a matching raincoat and then a polka-dot umbrella. Godbout's pastel and colored pencil compositions are softly textured and vary in mood and design to suit the story. The settings and characterizations have the feel of a 50s Audrey Hepburn movie. Viewers who love pink will be enthralled by Adele's striking, fashionable ensemble against the impressionistic gray rain when she ventures out to find her gift-giver. VERDICT At 80 pages, Callot's title is a sweet and tender story best shared one-on-one with those who enjoy just a hint of romance.-Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Will three mysterious, anonymous gifts help beloved cafe owner Adele overcome her rainy-day blues?This lengthy, sweet-tempered picture book offers as protagonist Adele, a petite, dark-haired white woman who is simultaneously gregarious and shy. Adele's cafe, the Polka-Dot Apron, is the social hub of a village by the sea, rendered appealingly both in words and in soft, textured art seemingly done in colored pencil. The cafe appears to be open almost around the clock, closing for Adele's personal timeouts and, occasionally, to accommodate her stay-in-bed depression during rainy weather. Adele is friendly to all, including Lucas, the young grocer who runs a weekly market inside the cafe. When Adele first finds a pair of bright pink boots near the coat rack, she assumes they were left behind by a customer. No one claims them, and, by the time she has also found a coatin her size, like the bootsand a pink umbrella, both she and young readers will have guessed the donor. The ending is predictable, and, despite the word "friends," it drips with as much romance as the clouds are dripping raindropsbut sweetly and appropriately. Skin tones on the retro-cartoonish characters vary some; all eyes are round, dark buttons. Adele and Lucas present traditional gender characteristics, with Adele "lively, sweet and sparkling," and Lucas a handyman who "looks out for Adele."Engaging, lighthearted entertainment. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
