Almondine Grows Up: The challenge of freedom (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781838320928)

Our teeny-weeny Almondine has grown up and is eager to enjoy her freedom. But a silly mistake leads her far from her foster mother, Alma, and the safety of her home. Alongside quirky characters, she endures a dangerous and complicated journey to find her way back. And, as the days go by, Almondine is undergoing an irreversible transformation. One she has to learn to accept.

A charming story for young readers, enriched with elegant illustrations on nearly every page, Almondine Grows Up is the second title of the trilogy in which we closely follow the teeny-weeny girl's dangerous and exhilarating adventures in her wild micro world.

The Almondine Book Series follows the life and adventures of a teeny-weeny girl born from an almond tree. Illustrated on nearly every page, the story's overarching themes of friendship, family relationships and adventure aim to engage mostly with primary school readers. www.almondine.club

The Author

Gabriele Zucchelli is an animator and filmmaker, whose work includes cartoon characters, realistic animals and fantastical creatures. He has contributed to several hand-drawn productions and blockbuster CGI movies including Harry Potter, Disney's latest Lion King and the Oscar-winning Jungle Book. He has recently co-supervised the animation of the Oscar-winning The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy and the BBC's mini-series Quentin Blake's Box of Treasures. In 2008, he also directed a well-received historical documentary on the first-ever animated feature film, Quirino Cristiani. The Almondine series is his first work as an author of children's books.

Outline

In the second book, Almondine tells us what happened to her from when she disappears from Alma's garden until they finally meet again.

It all begins when Alma allows her little Almondine to make her own home in the garden playhouse. But Almondine is too curious and at night, she begins to escape outside to meet all the inhabitants of the mysterious wild world.

Her new life feels like a dream until she meets a handsome but mischievous cat, Spritz.

Her rashness, lack of judgement and misfortune take her a long way from home and she faces a long and dangerous journey to find her way back to her beloved Alma.

But both Almondine and the various funny characters she meets along the way will have something to discover from each other.

Amongst them is Orzo, a self-assured little mouse, Tosca, a depressed toad and Chicobroo, a young wood pigeon afraid of heights.

And as the days go by, Almondine grows and transforms herself, to become almost unrecognisable. Her journey is also an internal conflict, one of acceptance and self-determination.

Will Alma and Almondine ever be able to be together as before?