Title: The Adventures of Mickey, Taggy, Puppo and Cica and how they discover France
Description: Puppo the native malamute dog takes part in and wins a television game show (a la Jeopardy).The prize: a trip to Paris and a cooking course at Maxim’s. Mickey, Taggy and Cica are very happy for him, but Puppo leaves his friends with a heavy heart. Once in Paris, he isoverwhelmed by the city and his course. He makes friends, visits museums and is so good at his cooking that his teacher entrusts to him the secret recipe of the Madeleine, the favourite dessert of the famed French writer Marcel Proust.Puppo prepares it to perfection, but when he has to return the recipe, he is unable to find it. He rushes to the Invalides with the hope that the spirit of Napoleon will suggest some strategy, but when that fails, he writes a heartbreaking letter to his friends in Toronto.Mickey, Taggy and Cica decide right away to travel to Paris and help Puppo find the missing recipe.After visiting many historical places, the friends accept an invitation for a balloon trip which–thanks to the Mistral–touches down in Marseilles and the island of If (where the Count of Monte Christo was once imprisoned) and ends up in the Mediterranean Sea.They are saved by the crew of a U.S. ship which lay at anchor near the shores of Monte Carlo. Once ashore they meet friends from Toronto who invite M.T.P.C. to their summer home near Nice. Then a miracle occurs. The Madeleine dessert is served and Barbara, a friend of the family who prepared it, confesses that she found the recipe on the kitchen table and thought it was left there for her to prepare it.Further investigation reveals that the hostess had found the recipe in the pocket of Puppo’s coat when she was mending it for him. She had removed the recipe and forgotten to replace it. She placed for safekeeping in her purse until she could return it to Puppo. Recently,when she paid a delivery man, the hostess had taken the paper out of her purse and left it on the kitchen table where Barbara found it. The mystery is solved and Puppo can finally return the recipe.After a few days in Paris visiting Montparnasse and other sights, M.T.P.C. say goodbye to the beautiful city. Mickey, Taggy and Cica never find out the secret of the Madeleine asPuppo will not tell them. It is a secret, ne’est-ce pas?
Subjects: Juvenile Nonfiction, Nonfiction, Travel