Swing Café

Story Carl Norac Illustrations Rebecca Dautremer Narration Bebel Gilberto & David Francis

A little Brazilian cricket named Zaz dreams of singing in New York. After hopping a ride on a woman’s fruit hat that takes her from her homeland to Manhattan, she meets a savvy fly named Buster who brings her to the Swing Café on East 54th Street. Everyone there speaks a common language, called Swing, and Zaz is inspired to take to the stage, sing from the heart, and deliver the performance of a lifetime.
Age: 5-7 / Publication date: September 2010

Author

Carl Norac is an award-winning author who has written more than 40 children’s books, including I Love You So Much, which was a Publisher’s Weekly bestseller.

Illlustrator

Rebecca Dautremer is living and working in Paris as a graphic editor and illustrator. A few years ago, she started to write books of her own. She also work for the press for children (Milan-Presse and Fleurus-Presse), school publishers, and in advertising. Her picture books are very poetic, with a hint of humour. Her recipe: warm colors and precise drawings. She's a real success for children between 3 and 11 years old.

Narrators

Bebel Gilberto is an established artist on the world music scene who has recorded with David Byrne, Caetano Veloso, and Laurie Anderson. Her debut album Tanto Tempo climbed the world music charts with more than 1 million copies sold worldwide and became the third-best-selling Brazilian album ever in North America. She lives in New York City.

David Francis trained as an actor at LAMDA in England and later at Shakespeare and Company in Massachussetts. He lived and worked in the UK for 20 years with several theatre companies in London, Exeter, Canterbury and Sheffield. He recently completed his eighth season at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. He lives in Montreal.