Madame Pamplemousse & The Time Travelling Café

Rupert Kingfisher (author)

Bloomsbury, UK: 2010; 148pp

ISBN: 9781408800539

Genres: adventure, fantasy

Issues: friendship, gifted

When Monsieur Moutarde, once a brilliant scientist, resigns his professorial post to run a café, it seems an eccentric decision. What few people know about The Café of Lost Time is that it is the hiding place of Mousieur Moutarde's greatest invention - the Taste-Automated Space-Time Deja-Vu Generator - which looks rather like a particularly sophisticated coffee machine.

So when the remarkable Madeleine finds herself threatened by government authorities if she doesn't lead them to her good friend Madame Pamplemousse, the greatest culinary genius of all times, she seeks refuge at The Café of Lost Time. Can Madeleine, Madame Pamplemousse and her cat, Camembert, create a tonic that will restore the ailing spirit of Paris? Possibly - but only if they can collect some unusual ingredients, including the drool of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a tear from a Sphinx.

Rupert Kingfisher has created a thoroughly charming and entertaining series of characters with that touch of whimsy and magic that have readers wondering if they mightn't just bump into them around the next corner. The reader is caught up in a whimsical adventure with never a boring moment, the narrative being a wonderful celebration of giftedness, imagination and individuality. As with Madame Pamplemousse's creations, The Time Travelling Café is very more-ish.

Great fun for readers of all ages.