The Girl and the Cathedral: The Story of Notre Dame de Paris

"This emotional and beautifully illustrated tale about Paris, the cathedral, and its people will make a great addition to any library." —Katie Callahan, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD, School Library Journal (STARRED)

Named a Children's Finalist in the 2020 Maxy Awards.

"A stunningly beautiful, wonderfully entertaining, thoroughly heartwarming, and unique tribute to the cathedral of Notre Dame, The Girl and the Cathedral: The Story of Notre Dame de Paris by the team of author/storyteller Nicolas Jeter and artist/illustrator Sara Ugolotti is an especially, unreservedly recommended addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections." —Midwest Book Review

On an island in the Seine, a little girl plants a garden—but not a garden of flowers. It will be a garden of people, she says: Paris. And in the center of that garden will stand its guardian, a grand cathedral carved from stone and roofed with light: the majestic Notre Dame de Paris. Alas, the garden will change, as people must. The girl sees kings and revolutions, empires and democracies, wars and tragedies. There are the best of times, and there are the worst. Through it all, the light of Notre Dame keeps hope bright. But when fire strikes Notre Dame itself, the little girl is grief stricken. It seems all light has gone out—until her beloved people discover what she has planted within them all along.

In the spirit of The Little Prince, The Girl and the Cathedral is a moving story about life, freedom, love, loss, and the glory of new beginnings. It is a story about Notre Dame, but much deeper, it is a story about all that Notre Dame stands for. The book includes a fold-out timeline of Notre Dame's history with period paintings and photographs. Adults and kids alike will treasure this stunning, heartwarming tribute to the cathedral of Notre Dame.