What do you think?
Rate this book
The Norendy Tales
The Hotel Balzaar
In a wise and magical follow-up to The Puppets of Spelhorst, Kate DiCamillo revisits the land of Norendy, where tales swirl within tales—and every moment is a story in the making.
At the Hotel Balzaar, Marta’s mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform, and instructs Marta to roam as she will but quietly, invisibly—like a little mouse. While her mother cleans rooms, Marta slips down the back staircase to the grand lobby to chat with the bellman, study the painting of an angel’s wing over the fireplace, and watch a cat chase a mouse around the face of the grandfather clock, all the while dreaming of the return of her soldier father, who has gone missing. One day, a mysterious countess with a parrot checks in, promising a story—in fact, seven stories in all, each to be told in its proper order. As the stories unfold, Marta begins to wonder: could the secret to her father’s disappearance lie in the countess’s tales? Book two in a trio of novellas bound by place and mood—with elegant line art by Júlia Sardà—The Hotel Balzaar masterfully juggles yearning and belief, shining light into every dark corner.
At the Hotel Balzaar, Marta’s mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform, and instructs Marta to roam as she will but quietly, invisibly—like a little mouse. While her mother cleans rooms, Marta slips down the back staircase to the grand lobby to chat with the bellman, study the painting of an angel’s wing over the fireplace, and watch a cat chase a mouse around the face of the grandfather clock, all the while dreaming of the return of her soldier father, who has gone missing. One day, a mysterious countess with a parrot checks in, promising a story—in fact, seven stories in all, each to be told in its proper order. As the stories unfold, Marta begins to wonder: could the secret to her father’s disappearance lie in the countess’s tales? Book two in a trio of novellas bound by place and mood—with elegant line art by Júlia Sardà—The Hotel Balzaar masterfully juggles yearning and belief, shining light into every dark corner.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2024
About the author
Kate DiCamillo
125 books10.3k followersKate DiCamillo, the newly named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2014–2015, says about stories, “When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another.” Born in Philadelphia, the author lives in Minneapolis, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week.
Kate DiCamillo's own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her twenties, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire Because of Winn-Dixie - her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. "After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls," she says. "I was stunned. And very, very happy."
Her second novel, The Tiger Rising, went on to become a National Book Award Finalist. Since then, the master storyteller has written for a wide range of ages, including two comical early-chapter-book series - Mercy Watson, which stars a "porcine wonder" with an obsession for buttered toast, and Bink & Gollie, which celebrates the tall and short of a marvelous friendship - as well as a luminous holiday picture book, Great Joy.
Her latest novel, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, won the 2014 Newbery Medal. It was released in fall 2013 to great acclaim, including five starred reviews, and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Flora & Ulysses is a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format - a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black and white by up-and-coming artist K. G. Campbell. It was a 2013 Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner and was chosen by Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Common Sense Media as a Best Book of the Year.
Kate DiCamillo's own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her twenties, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire Because of Winn-Dixie - her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. "After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls," she says. "I was stunned. And very, very happy."
Her second novel, The Tiger Rising, went on to become a National Book Award Finalist. Since then, the master storyteller has written for a wide range of ages, including two comical early-chapter-book series - Mercy Watson, which stars a "porcine wonder" with an obsession for buttered toast, and Bink & Gollie, which celebrates the tall and short of a marvelous friendship - as well as a luminous holiday picture book, Great Joy.
Her latest novel, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, won the 2014 Newbery Medal. It was released in fall 2013 to great acclaim, including five starred reviews, and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Flora & Ulysses is a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format - a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black and white by up-and-coming artist K. G. Campbell. It was a 2013 Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner and was chosen by Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Common Sense Media as a Best Book of the Year.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews
November 5, 2024
Thank you PRHAudio for the complimentary audiobook! Thank you Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read and review!
I enjoyed this story mostly through audiobook. I did go back to read parts of the book and to look at all of the illustrations. I liked the illustrations. This story is quite unique and unlike any stories I have read. I need to start looking at Goodreads before starting a new book because once again I have read book 2 before book 1. I liked that Marta is clever.
This story followed a little girl named Marta. Her mom cleans the hotel rooms during the day while she wanders and keeps quiet. Her dad was away at war. She wonders about him. One day an old lady who called herself a countess and her parrot arrived at the hotel. Despite Marta tried to stay hidden, the countess and her bird taken a liking to Marta and invited Marta to her room. The countess wanted to tell many stories to Marta. And so each day, Marta visit the countess's room. The stories led to an unexpected and surprise ending.
I enjoyed this story mostly through audiobook. I did go back to read parts of the book and to look at all of the illustrations. I liked the illustrations. This story is quite unique and unlike any stories I have read. I need to start looking at Goodreads before starting a new book because once again I have read book 2 before book 1. I liked that Marta is clever.
This story followed a little girl named Marta. Her mom cleans the hotel rooms during the day while she wanders and keeps quiet. Her dad was away at war. She wonders about him. One day an old lady who called herself a countess and her parrot arrived at the hotel. Despite Marta tried to stay hidden, the countess and her bird taken a liking to Marta and invited Marta to her room. The countess wanted to tell many stories to Marta. And so each day, Marta visit the countess's room. The stories led to an unexpected and surprise ending.
October 19, 2024
Very very charming and sweet
October 23, 2024
Read aloud to my 8 and 10 year olds. This was such a satisfying read aloud; I love how DiCamillo writes and it just begs to be read aloud. This book is a short new fairytale, told with story-in-story elements, and I loved how it all came together in the end. A beautiful edition to this series.
July 11, 2024
I love everything she does.
August 8, 2024
pls kate continue writing more norendy tales 😭
October 11, 2024
The second novel of the “Norendy Tales” see us follow the hotel life of a little girl who makes friends with a countess and her parrot with the help of stories while her mother works as a maid and her father is far away from them. It certainly has the same themes as “Spellhorst” focusing on magic, but also centers on family and friendship. Sarda’s illustrations are also just so delightful as well. Another touching tale from Norendy. A (100%/Outstanding)
October 5, 2024
This series is just so charming and magical. I can't wait for more.
5 stars
5 stars
October 16, 2024
Another full-circle Dicamillo tale, full of longing, intrigue and satisfying joy.
Marta and her mother have been left alone when a war claimed her father. With no other home Marta’s mother takes a job as a maid in the Hotel Balthazar. Marta spends her days, quite as a mouse, not disturbing anyone in the hotel until a flamboyant Countess shows up with a parrot and stories to tell.
A slightly slower beginning than the first of the series, but just as many tears by the end.
Marta and her mother have been left alone when a war claimed her father. With no other home Marta’s mother takes a job as a maid in the Hotel Balthazar. Marta spends her days, quite as a mouse, not disturbing anyone in the hotel until a flamboyant Countess shows up with a parrot and stories to tell.
A slightly slower beginning than the first of the series, but just as many tears by the end.
November 10, 2024
Book 2 in the Norendy Tales by Kate DiCamillo.
🏨
Marta’s mother has one rule for her: stay quiet and invisible while she’s working as a maid for the Hotel Balzaar. Marta is good at being a little mouse until she meets a countess with a parrot who has seven stories to tell Marta. Marta listens day after day to the different stories, asking questions, wanting to know how it ends and she wonders if the stories had anything to do with her father who has been missing since he went to war.
🦜
The narrator really brought me into the story. I was riveted, wanting to know how the stories were connected. DiCamillo has been hit or miss for me over the past several years, but I’m happy @thebookmommy recommended it because I did enjoy it.
Thank you @prhaudio for the ALC. All opinions are my own.
CW: adoption, parental abandonment, classism
3.5 ⭐️
🏨
Marta’s mother has one rule for her: stay quiet and invisible while she’s working as a maid for the Hotel Balzaar. Marta is good at being a little mouse until she meets a countess with a parrot who has seven stories to tell Marta. Marta listens day after day to the different stories, asking questions, wanting to know how it ends and she wonders if the stories had anything to do with her father who has been missing since he went to war.
🦜
The narrator really brought me into the story. I was riveted, wanting to know how the stories were connected. DiCamillo has been hit or miss for me over the past several years, but I’m happy @thebookmommy recommended it because I did enjoy it.
Thank you @prhaudio for the ALC. All opinions are my own.
CW: adoption, parental abandonment, classism
3.5 ⭐️
November 16, 2024
If your soul needs a hug, read this.
October 29, 2024
Another luminous and mystical fairytale from one of THE BEST children's authors! Thank you, Kate. We need more writers like you.
November 6, 2024
4.5 ⭐️
Effortlessly beautiful writing. A great read on a snowy day if only a fascist hadn’t been elected last night
Effortlessly beautiful writing. A great read on a snowy day if only a fascist hadn’t been elected last night
October 19, 2024
I want to be like kate dicamillo when I grow up
October 8, 2024
I’m just gonna say it: The Hoel Balzaar and Puppets of Spelhorst are weird. Kate DiCamillo is a treasure, and a skillful storyteller, but these two books are just too odd for me. I understand the interconnected story elements and the hope for happiness, but the grim settings and bizarre characters did not grab me. Not even the parrot. So, perhaps you will feel differently.
October 20, 2024
Marta is a very quite but inquisitive child. Marta and her mother arrive at the Hotel Balzaar, where her mother takes a job as a maid and they live in a small attic room. Marta's father is gone to war.
Marta is told to keep quiet and be as invisible as she can. She watches the clock in the lobby and stares at a painting there too and is as quiet as can be. Then she meets the Countess and her parrot (whom she is told was a general). That is when the seven stories start. Marta (much like us) wants the stories to have a beginning, a middle, and an end and to have some purpose. They don't seem to have endings and she struggles with that.
Kate returns us to the Land of Norendy (book two of the trilogy) and weaves a story of sadness and curiosity and intriguing characters. Kate weaves the theme of light into the story in such a beautiful way.
Lovely story, about a sad little girl, who just wants to have her family reunited.
October 18, 2024
It was okay.
A little girl was in search of her parents and a woman offered her up stories to pass the time. They sounded fantastical and she wasn't sure what to make of them but she enjoyed them. And it turns out....there was more to the stories than she realized.
A little girl was in search of her parents and a woman offered her up stories to pass the time. They sounded fantastical and she wasn't sure what to make of them but she enjoyed them. And it turns out....there was more to the stories than she realized.
November 8, 2024
Beautiful story by Dicamillo again. I have not read the first in this one, and will do so, but this one is still fantastic as a stand alone. This was fantatsic on audio, and highly recommend it that way, or for parents, this is for sure a read aloud kind of a book. A family love story.
November 15, 2024
The 2nd in the Norendy Tales.
Stories wrapped in stories.
A girl and her mom live in a hotel where nothing changes until a mysterious countess comes with a parrot and 7 stories to tell.
Read by myself but if I would have been a read aloud it would have been hard not to read in one setting.
Stories wrapped in stories.
A girl and her mom live in a hotel where nothing changes until a mysterious countess comes with a parrot and 7 stories to tell.
Read by myself but if I would have been a read aloud it would have been hard not to read in one setting.
October 4, 2024
DiCamillo's story telling is an incredible gift. Thank you for sharing your gift Kate!
October 7, 2024
“It takes no courage at all to doubt, Marta,” she said. “And we are not beyond rescue. We are never beyond rescue.”
October 10, 2024
Lovely little story. Reminded me of The Little Princess but without the colonialism.
October 10, 2024
Such beauty in the simplicity of this book. I hope there are more Norendy Tales to come. 5 stars for Kate DiCamillo yet again
October 16, 2024
Yet another charming, lovely tale from Kate DiCamillo.
October 16, 2024
I’d like to live in Norendy, please. This was lovely. And the illustrations were wonderful.
November 6, 2024
I didn’t know this was the story I needed. What a beautiful “story of love enduring”! This a second story from Kate DiCamillo in her land of Norendy tales. Short. Sweet. Magical. #litteviewcrew
October 17, 2024
This second installment of the Norendy Tales is my favorite so far (Each tale stands on its own - for now) And it's beautiful. If you have been around here much, you know I love Kate DiCamillo (though I have yet to get through all of her novels) and this did not disappoint.
Friendship, loss, loneliness, hopelessness that turns to hope, fantastic stories, redemption. Love.
"Tell me where you see the light seep through"
"It takes more courage to doubt than believe."
Love her writing and how she bring worlds alive, and light to our own.
Friendship, loss, loneliness, hopelessness that turns to hope, fantastic stories, redemption. Love.
"Tell me where you see the light seep through"
"It takes more courage to doubt than believe."
Love her writing and how she bring worlds alive, and light to our own.
November 5, 2024
This is another delightful story by Kate DiCamillo. This time, we are following a young girl named Marta who lives in a hotel with her mother (a housekeeper at the hotel). While her mother cleans, Marta goes on little adventures in the hotel to keep her boredom at bay. One day, a countess who is a gifted storyteller comes to stay at the hotel for an extended period, and they form a friendship based on stories. Marta's father is away at war, and she desperately wants him to come home - and to her surprise, she finds that the countess's stories contain clues about her father. The tale wraps up in a satisfying way while still leaving some things unanswered.
The illustrations helped to give this book a Wes Anderson vibe (which I loved because I am a fan of his work). I've read the first book in DiCamillo's Norendy Tales about a group of puppets trying to figure out their purpose, and this is the second tale in that series; I look forward to reading more of these tales.
The illustrations helped to give this book a Wes Anderson vibe (which I loved because I am a fan of his work). I've read the first book in DiCamillo's Norendy Tales about a group of puppets trying to figure out their purpose, and this is the second tale in that series; I look forward to reading more of these tales.
October 1, 2024
Another fantastic story by the master storyteller, DiCamillo.
October 20, 2024
I love K.D. but this one felt as though it was missing a lot.
October 28, 2024
In uncertain times, what the world needs is more Kate DiCamillo.
“And we are not beyond rescue. We are never beyond rescue.”
“And we are not beyond rescue. We are never beyond rescue.”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews