The Valentine Children’s Summer Adventures
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The Children
Elyse and Pierre, the parents of la famille Valentine, had six enfants—four filles and two garçons. These were their names and ages: Annalise (An-na-leez), ten; Brigitte (Bree-zheet), nine; Claire (Clayr), eight; Dagobert (Dag-oh-bayr), seven; and Eugenie (Uh-zhay-nee) and Etienne (Ay-tyee-en), six-year-old twins.
Nearly every enfant Valentine had a different couleur (ku-lœr: color) of hair. Annalise had noir hair. Brigitte had brun (brõe: brown) hair. Claire had roux (roo:ginger/red) hair. Dagobert had chatain (sha-tunh: chestnut) hair. Eugenie had blond hair, and Etienne's hair had the same couleur as Eugenie because they were twins. Les enfants were all beaux (boe: beautiful), but Annalise was so belle that everybody who saw her fell in love with her.
Les enfants always dreamed of aventures (ah-von-tur: adventures) in Carcassonne with faraway looks in their eyes. They could see the tops of les remparts (lay rom-par: the ramparts) of Carcassonne. Because they were too young to travel to la cité alone, they used their imaginations to play, and invented games about the walled cité. One game was hide-and-seek. Les enfants pretended they were hiding inside the walls of Carcassonne, and they had aventures there.
Madame Elyse had a favorite child: Dagobert. She favored him because he had greatness in him, or so she thought. He was also brilliant and very clever. She wanted him to become a politician, and he liked the idea.
Dagobert liked mathematics and loved working on crossword puzzles. Dagobert was named after a very good king who helped make Paris (Pah-ree: Paris) the capital of France many centuries ago.
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About the Book
Thirty ways to say what’s what in another language means more smiles in schools. Double the number and spell them right, and a child has a head start. Double again, and say them aloud the way they’re meant to be said, then picking up a language can be more fun than work. That is the true treasure in Dianne’s inspired story set long ago and far away in France. As she shares with readers the adventures of the Valentine children and their animal companions, Dianne conjures a tapestry in two languages, weaving into the story words in French that work their own wonder. New words and phrases and names arrive on the page not just with meanings but clear signs on how to say them out loud.
Scene by scene the treasure grows. By the end of the adventures the reader will be familiar not just with magical France but also with over 120 French words for flowers and animals, colors and flavors, good things to eat, family and friendship and everything you need to join the Valentines’ adventures in a setting outside the true and real, hewn-stone city of Carcassonne.
Dianne brings French out of the classroom and into the home. Relish in the rich imagery of memorable illustrations and use them to fix the French words and names in your head.
Dianne turns a task of learning into an enjoyable experience. This is the first of a trilogy.
About the Author
Dianne Sibéal Donahoe has sampled a fascinating variety of cultures and histories through worldwide travel. An avid artist and connoisseur, she lives with her husband in San Francisco and Manhattan. A portion of the proceeds of this work will be donated to the University of Washington’s Experimental Educational Unit.