Book Description

For young readers comfortable reading longer books. Kids 8 - 12 years old. Magali: a shy French marmot who can't resist her funny mountain mates and their crazy, nocturnal, sports adventures! 'Uhm. I need to go out,' said the marmot. The adult marmots whipped their heads around to look at Magali. 'Now? Where?' Magali's papa said. 'The Green Lake.' 'What for?' 'Wakeboarding.' 'Wakeboarding? What's wakeboarding?' 'Uhm. I'm not sure. That's why I have to go. To see.' Magali's mother and father shared a worried glance. Magali's mother sighed. 'Do you think that's a good idea, Magali?' Magali's father put his paw on his wife's arm. 'No. If Magali wants to go out at night to do sports, we said we would allow it.' He looked at his daughter. 'Are there going to be eagles, foxes, and wolves there, Magali?' Magali's voice rose high and squeaky. 'There is a ''No Eating Other Animals At Night'' sports rule! I've told you before!' Actually, the eagles, foxes, and wolves are the least of Magali's concerns. She's got a new problem. She's discovered a another sport, apart from the wakeboarding! This new sport has a group of new friends, separate to her mountain gang (Mishka, Henri Le Hare, F-F-Foxy, Little Foxy, Puppy Bébé and Chamois Luc). Now she has two fun sports to do, and two fun sets of sets of friends to hang out with. But, she's exhausted. She can't keep up. Something has to give! The little marmot has a hard decision to make! A funny middle-grade series about trusting instinct, forging friendships, and learning independence. The books have British spelling. For ages 8-12 yrs. Set in La Plagne, Savoie, France Each book can be read as an individual book or as part of the Dude Series. The series is available in English, French, Spanish, plus bilingual versions (English / français) (English / español). Question for the Author How did you come up with the character of Magali? 'You know, I really love the French Alps, and looking at all the animals that live in the mountains. I'm Australian, so I had never seen a marmot before moving to France. I worked one summer, for a kids' summer camp, and part of my job was to take the children out on walks. We would go looking for marmots, all of us being very quiet, secretly sneaking up to the holes in the ground, where the entrances to the marmot burrows were. Of course, we would make too much noise and the marmots would disappear into their underground tunnels, but sometimes we were lucky and able to take photos. I think their underground homes took over my imagination, and before you knew it, I had a whole chapter book in my head, with Magali as the principal character!'