Monsieur Durand's Grosse Affaire - Hardcover

St. Romain, Rose Anne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1589808088 ISBN 13: 9781589808089

Publisher: Pelican Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

An extravagant man creates a legendary wedding. For one of the wealthiest men in Louisiana's Petit Paris, a regular affaire wasn't enough for his daughters' double wedding. Based on a true story from 1800s St. Martinville, this tale reveals how one creative man used gold dust and 1 million spiders to stage an event still talked about more than 100 years later.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

As legend has it, Monsieur Durand was one of the wealthiest men in St. Martinville, Louisiana, in the 1800s. He always wanted to have the best, and all who knew him expected his parties to be very elegant. When two of his daughters decided to wed on the same day, Durand's imagination went to work designing a grosse affaire-a grand event.

His excitement was contagious, but no matter how much his wife asked, he would not reveal his plans to her. He hired the most talented musicians and the finest chefs, but that was only the beginning. When the guests finally arrived, they could only exclaim, "Monsieur Durand! C'est spectaculaire. Comment vous avez fait �a?" (This is spectacular. How did you do this?), at the fairytale scene before them.

A tale that gets richer and more embellished with each telling, Durand's extravagant wedding party is based on a true story that has been passed down in Acadiana since 1870.

An author and award-winning storyteller since 1982, Rose Anne St. Romain toured with Jimmy Buffett after he saw her tell stories at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. She is the recipient of several honors, including a Louisiana Pioneer Storytelling Award, a Parent's Guide to Children's Media Award, a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People Award, and a Storytelling World Honor Award.

A freelance illustrator, Joan C. Waites has illustrated more than forty-five titles for the trade and educational markets. Her work has won numerous awards, including a 2011 Teachers' Choice Award. Moon's Cloud Blanket, another Pelican collaboration between St. Romain and Waites, was chosen as an IRA/CBC Children's Choices Program 2004 Selection. Waites serves as the illustrator coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and is a member of the Children's Book Guild of Washington, D.C.

About the Author:

An author and award-winning storyteller, ROSE ANNE ST. ROMAIN toured with Jimmy Buffett after he saw her tell stories at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. She is the recipient of the Louisiana Pioneer Storytelling Award and a Parent's Guide to Children's Media Award.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pelican Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1589808088
• ISBN 13: 9781589808089
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Waites Joan