Maurice

PreS-Gr 2–Maurice is a hound in a blue hat and blue slacks and familiar accordion player on the charming street corners of Paris. He was once a famous musician, but now he has a simpler life and enjoys every interaction with his neighbors, the people he passes on the streets, those sipping coffee in the small cafes he passes. His life is full and exactly as he likes it. But the city gets chaotic and drowns out his music; soon Maurice is not making enough to buy the seed for his friends at home, and he opens his windows to let them fly free. What follows is a melancholy winter, and just as readers feel as if they are in for a Little Match Girl ending, spring returns, and so do Maurice’s friends and revenue stream. It’s a happy ending that may ring false to children, suggesting that Maurice can reverse urban growth or even aging itself. And yet the scenes are so pretty, and the message so earnest.