Paris is beautifully rendered in moody beige, blue and orange in this stylish 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 - 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. An extraordinary illustrator at his finest. This book contains a new map of Paris drawn by Barroux specially for this edition. REVIEWS "Mr Leon's Paris takes us on a wonderful journey around the more quirky named roads in Paris, while showing many of the gorgeous sights that the city has to offer, which will be fun for young readers to spot. I loved how each passenger is somehow linked to its destination: a mummy wants to go to Pyramid Street and passes the Pyramide du Louvre on its way, Jeannette the hairdresser wants to go to Scissor Row! Mr Leon's Paris is an ode to what makes the city great, from its sights to its people.
I particularly liked how it brings to life the French's cultural heritage, bringing elements from its colonial past (North Africa) and overseas territories (Tahiti). The artwork is beautiful, using a palette of colours with a slightly faded effect, and is so full of detail that it will have little readers engrossed. Look out particularly for the map of Paris at the end, which was drawn by Barroux for this edition. This is a wonderfully stylish book which will work as a great introduction to the city for the little globetrotters. I would definitely recommend Mr Leon's Paris if you intend to bring your family to Paris, or simply if you are dreaming to do so!" -- LIBRARY MICE. "This highly original book takes us on an exhilarating ride across the streets of Paris in Mr Leon's taxi. His passengers include all sorts of intriguing people whose names are often linked with the places they are collected from or destined for. This is the source of much verbal entertainment: for example Jeanette the hairdresser goes to Scissor Row and Captain Scott is picked up from Englishman's Street.
The illustrations have a surrealist flavour: we have people with elongated bodies and tiny heads and splodges of colour sometimes eccentrically placed. Features in the urban landscapes are fascinatingly detailed: buildings have hundreds of windows, jaunty statues and tiny chimney pots. 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