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The Norendy Tales
The Hotel Balzaar
In a wise and magical follow-up to The Puppets of Spelhorst, Kate DiCamillo revisits the land of Norendy, where tales swirl within tales—and every moment is a story in the making.
At the Hotel Balzaar, Marta’s mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform, and instructs Marta to roam as she will but quietly, invisibly—like a little mouse. While her mother cleans rooms, Marta slips down the back staircase to the grand lobby to chat with the bellman, study the painting of an angel’s wing over the fireplace, and watch a cat chase a mouse around the face of the grandfather clock, all the while dreaming of the return of her soldier father, who has gone missing. One day, a mysterious countess with a parrot checks in, promising a story—in fact, seven stories in all, each to be told in its proper order. As the stories unfold, Marta begins to wonder: could the secret to her father’s disappearance lie in the countess’s tales? Book two in a trio of novellas bound by place and mood—with elegant line art by Júlia Sardà—The Hotel Balzaar masterfully juggles yearning and belief, shining light into every dark corner.
At the Hotel Balzaar, Marta’s mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform, and instructs Marta to roam as she will but quietly, invisibly—like a little mouse. While her mother cleans rooms, Marta slips down the back staircase to the grand lobby to chat with the bellman, study the painting of an angel’s wing over the fireplace, and watch a cat chase a mouse around the face of the grandfather clock, all the while dreaming of the return of her soldier father, who has gone missing. One day, a mysterious countess with a parrot checks in, promising a story—in fact, seven stories in all, each to be told in its proper order. As the stories unfold, Marta begins to wonder: could the secret to her father’s disappearance lie in the countess’s tales? Book two in a trio of novellas bound by place and mood—with elegant line art by Júlia Sardà—The Hotel Balzaar masterfully juggles yearning and belief, shining light into every dark corner.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2024
95 people are currently reading
6361 people want to read
About the author
Kate DiCamillo
163 books11k followersKate DiCamillo, the newly named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2014–2015, says about stories, “When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another.” Born in Philadelphia, the author lives in Minneapolis, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week.
Kate DiCamillo's own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her twenties, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire Because of Winn-Dixie - her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. "After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls," she says. "I was stunned. And very, very happy."
Her second novel, The Tiger Rising, went on to become a National Book Award Finalist. Since then, the master storyteller has written for a wide range of ages, including two comical early-chapter-book series - Mercy Watson, which stars a "porcine wonder" with an obsession for buttered toast, and Bink & Gollie, which celebrates the tall and short of a marvelous friendship - as well as a luminous holiday picture book, Great Joy.
Her latest novel, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, won the 2014 Newbery Medal. It was released in fall 2013 to great acclaim, including five starred reviews, and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Flora & Ulysses is a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format - a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black and white by up-and-coming artist K. G. Campbell. It was a 2013 Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner and was chosen by Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Common Sense Media as a Best Book of the Year.
Kate DiCamillo's own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her twenties, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire Because of Winn-Dixie - her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. "After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls," she says. "I was stunned. And very, very happy."
Her second novel, The Tiger Rising, went on to become a National Book Award Finalist. Since then, the master storyteller has written for a wide range of ages, including two comical early-chapter-book series - Mercy Watson, which stars a "porcine wonder" with an obsession for buttered toast, and Bink & Gollie, which celebrates the tall and short of a marvelous friendship - as well as a luminous holiday picture book, Great Joy.
Her latest novel, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, won the 2014 Newbery Medal. It was released in fall 2013 to great acclaim, including five starred reviews, and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Flora & Ulysses is a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format - a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black and white by up-and-coming artist K. G. Campbell. It was a 2013 Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner and was chosen by Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Common Sense Media as a Best Book of the Year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 496 reviews
November 23, 2024
Kate DiCamillo is a storytelling genius. That is my full and honest review.
Wait, I almost forgot… Júlia Sardà is an illustrating genius. *Now* that’s my full and honest review.
In all seriousness, this book was everything I love about Kate DiCamillo’s work. It was heartfelt, poetic, inspiring, hopeful, funny, and full of wonder.
Every time I read a new Kate DiCamillo story, the little girl in me jumps for joy. I still remember the feeling I got when I read “Because of Winn-Dixie” all those years ago. I felt the exact same way, today, when I read “The Hotel Balzaar.” From her first book to her newest release, she truly does no wrong.
Thank you, Kate, for filling my life with your perfect, clever, and enchanting stories!
Wait, I almost forgot… Júlia Sardà is an illustrating genius. *Now* that’s my full and honest review.
In all seriousness, this book was everything I love about Kate DiCamillo’s work. It was heartfelt, poetic, inspiring, hopeful, funny, and full of wonder.
Every time I read a new Kate DiCamillo story, the little girl in me jumps for joy. I still remember the feeling I got when I read “Because of Winn-Dixie” all those years ago. I felt the exact same way, today, when I read “The Hotel Balzaar.” From her first book to her newest release, she truly does no wrong.
Thank you, Kate, for filling my life with your perfect, clever, and enchanting stories!
November 5, 2024
Thank you PRHAudio for the complimentary audiobook! Thank you Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read and review!
I enjoyed this story mostly through audiobook. I did go back to read parts of the book and to look at all of the illustrations. I liked the illustrations. This story is quite unique and unlike any stories I have read. I need to start looking at Goodreads before starting a new book because once again I have read book 2 before book 1. I liked that Marta is clever.
This story followed a little girl named Marta. Her mom cleans the hotel rooms during the day while she wanders and keeps quiet. Her dad was away at war. She wonders about him. One day an old lady who called herself a countess and her parrot arrived at the hotel. Despite Marta tried to stay hidden, the countess and her bird taken a liking to Marta and invited Marta to her room. The countess wanted to tell many stories to Marta. And so each day, Marta visit the countess's room. The stories led to an unexpected and surprise ending.
I enjoyed this story mostly through audiobook. I did go back to read parts of the book and to look at all of the illustrations. I liked the illustrations. This story is quite unique and unlike any stories I have read. I need to start looking at Goodreads before starting a new book because once again I have read book 2 before book 1. I liked that Marta is clever.
This story followed a little girl named Marta. Her mom cleans the hotel rooms during the day while she wanders and keeps quiet. Her dad was away at war. She wonders about him. One day an old lady who called herself a countess and her parrot arrived at the hotel. Despite Marta tried to stay hidden, the countess and her bird taken a liking to Marta and invited Marta to her room. The countess wanted to tell many stories to Marta. And so each day, Marta visit the countess's room. The stories led to an unexpected and surprise ending.
October 19, 2024
Very very charming and sweet
October 23, 2024
Read aloud to my 8 and 10 year olds. This was such a satisfying read aloud; I love how DiCamillo writes and it just begs to be read aloud. This book is a short new fairytale, told with story-in-story elements, and I loved how it all came together in the end. A beautiful edition to this series.
January 31, 2025
This charming tale wove its way through my heart. It’s brimming over with DiCamillo’s telltale warmth, wit, and wisdom. I liked it even better than its companion novel in the Norendy Tales, and that’s saying something.
Read this aloud to your kids, or read it to yourself, and let your heart grow three sizes. ❤️
Read this aloud to your kids, or read it to yourself, and let your heart grow three sizes. ❤️
November 19, 2024
"It takes no courage at all to doubt, Marta. And we are not beyond rescue. We are never beyond rescue."
ms dicamillo, you've done it again
ms dicamillo, you've done it again
December 9, 2024
A charming tale that I’ll be reading again to catch all the connections between the stories.
July 11, 2024
I love everything she does.
August 8, 2024
pls kate continue writing more norendy tales 😭
November 16, 2024
If your soul needs a hug, read this.
November 26, 2025
Grand Budapest Hotel vibes (kinda)!
February 7, 2025
A bit of a fast paced ending, but such a beautiful story! Kate DiCamillo does a fantastic job bringing magic into such a lovely plot. Think A Little Princess meets the writing of Because of Winn-Dixie
September 20, 2025
This book was so good!!! I loved the writing and the artwork, this story was mystery and just plain intriguing!!! 10/10 read for sure!!!! I loved hotel balzaar!! Highly recommend!!!
October 5, 2024
This series is just so charming and magical. I can't wait for more.
5 stars
5 stars
February 2, 2025
A quick, magical story. I’m not really a fan of the author’s newer books.
November 29, 2025
Marta longs for her father's return after the war. Her mother works as a maid in the hotel, and Marta spends her days wandering around the hotel being quiet as a mouse. When a mysterious Countess with a parrot arrives at the hotel, she promises to tell Marta seven stories, but the stories are not quite what Marta expected. They seem to have no proper ending and no meaning. But Marta keeps listening, hoping that somehow the stories will point the way to her missing father.
I loved this beautiful story! Marta is a complex character. She wants to believe in the stories, but she gets discouraged and starts to lose hope. She's very quick at seeing connections between the different stories and her own life, so she keeps hoping that there will be some clue about her father. Marta sees how her mother has lost hope, and she determines that she will have to continue with courage for her mother's sake.
The plot is really intricate with all these details that overlap in different areas. I liked that the story has supernatural and fantastical elements, but it's not quite defined. It might have been magic, or it might have been coincidence. It might be divine miracles, or it might be that the Countess is just exaggerating. I love the aura of mystery!
The story is told with a lovely old-fashioned style that is quite elegant in its brevity. Every word fits exactly where it should, and no words are wasted. The result is a powerful writing style that tugs at your emotions!
I loved the pretty illustrations through the book which really bring forward the emotional pathos of the story. The artwork makes this story truly special!
This chapter book is perfect for young readers ages 7-10 who are reading on their own, but not ready for lengthy books yet.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review.
I loved this beautiful story! Marta is a complex character. She wants to believe in the stories, but she gets discouraged and starts to lose hope. She's very quick at seeing connections between the different stories and her own life, so she keeps hoping that there will be some clue about her father. Marta sees how her mother has lost hope, and she determines that she will have to continue with courage for her mother's sake.
The plot is really intricate with all these details that overlap in different areas. I liked that the story has supernatural and fantastical elements, but it's not quite defined. It might have been magic, or it might have been coincidence. It might be divine miracles, or it might be that the Countess is just exaggerating. I love the aura of mystery!
The story is told with a lovely old-fashioned style that is quite elegant in its brevity. Every word fits exactly where it should, and no words are wasted. The result is a powerful writing style that tugs at your emotions!
I loved the pretty illustrations through the book which really bring forward the emotional pathos of the story. The artwork makes this story truly special!
This chapter book is perfect for young readers ages 7-10 who are reading on their own, but not ready for lengthy books yet.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review.
October 11, 2024
The second novel of the “Norendy Tales” see us follow the hotel life of a little girl who makes friends with a countess and her parrot with the help of stories while her mother works as a maid and her father is far away from them. It certainly has the same themes as “Spellhorst” focusing on magic, but also centers on family and friendship. Sarda’s illustrations are also just so delightful as well. Another touching tale from Norendy. A (100%/Outstanding)
February 7, 2025
This is not at all my sort of book. So I was surprised to find that I read it through in a single sitting. It is a story about magic and dreams and hope and despair, and about stories.
June 16, 2025
very beautiful and bittersweet
July 24, 2025
A charming read. My life is better for having experienced it
November 18, 2024
Kate DiCamillo is a national treasure, she continues to produce books that entertain and enlighten children. Here Marta keeps busy wandering the hotel that her mom cleans. When a Countess arrives she tells Marta a story a day. A special acknowledgement to the illustrator! Wowzer! Although this is part of a trilogy, there is no need to read the earlier book other than for pure enjoyment. I personally preferred this one!
October 21, 2025
In my opinion, the best Kate Dicamillo release of my adulthood.
January 24, 2025
A story of love enduring, beautiful.
October 30, 2025
Ik vind het waanzinnig interessant hoe zo’n verhaal overeind blijft, met zo weinig plot en de klassieke/ouderwetse vertelstijl. Maar ik ben er dol op!! Ik word hier ongelooflijk vredig van en het is weer eentje van DiCamillo om te koesteren.
October 16, 2024
Another full-circle Dicamillo tale, full of longing, intrigue and satisfying joy.
Marta and her mother have been left alone when a war claimed her father. With no other home Marta’s mother takes a job as a maid in the Hotel Balthazar. Marta spends her days, quite as a mouse, not disturbing anyone in the hotel until a flamboyant Countess shows up with a parrot and stories to tell.
A slightly slower beginning than the first of the series, but just as many tears by the end.
Marta and her mother have been left alone when a war claimed her father. With no other home Marta’s mother takes a job as a maid in the Hotel Balthazar. Marta spends her days, quite as a mouse, not disturbing anyone in the hotel until a flamboyant Countess shows up with a parrot and stories to tell.
A slightly slower beginning than the first of the series, but just as many tears by the end.
January 20, 2025
Welcome to The Hotel Balzaar.
“In the morning, the lobby was hushed and gray and dim. But by late afternoon, the room was filled to overflowing with light, almost as if someone were standing high above the Hotel Balzaar pouring molten gold from a pitcher and murmuring, ‘There must be more light, more light. More, yes. And yet more.’”
Marta lives in this world, quietly scaling and descending the stairs through the day while her mother works, and they both wait for her father.
Then she meets the countess, with her bird and her hats and her stories.
“’The journey was long, much longer than I anticipated. I will sleep for a time, and then you will return and we will begin our work.’ ‘What work?’ said Marta. ‘Do not ask ridiculous questions, my little ray of light,’ said the countess.”
Meet Blitzkoff.
“The bird again tapped his beak against the wall. He gave her an impatient, imperious look. It was clear that he had once been a general.”
The hats are no less splendid.
“There are days when the soul can be rescued from despair by the right hat,” the countess tells Marta as she makes a selection for that day. “Although some days, of course the soul seems beyond rescue, and then there is nothing to do except to be patient and wait for the light to return, with or without a hat upon your head.”
Marta devours each story and keeps coming back for more. (Forgive the meta interruption, but I suggest the same approach to Kate DiCamillo’s stories.) And you will be as thrilled as Marta when a delicate thread starts to appear between them.
“The parents loved the boy beyond all reason. They lived in fear of losing him. They were happy. They were terrified. This is what it means to love.”
“In the morning, the lobby was hushed and gray and dim. But by late afternoon, the room was filled to overflowing with light, almost as if someone were standing high above the Hotel Balzaar pouring molten gold from a pitcher and murmuring, ‘There must be more light, more light. More, yes. And yet more.’”
Marta lives in this world, quietly scaling and descending the stairs through the day while her mother works, and they both wait for her father.
Then she meets the countess, with her bird and her hats and her stories.
“’The journey was long, much longer than I anticipated. I will sleep for a time, and then you will return and we will begin our work.’ ‘What work?’ said Marta. ‘Do not ask ridiculous questions, my little ray of light,’ said the countess.”
Meet Blitzkoff.
“The bird again tapped his beak against the wall. He gave her an impatient, imperious look. It was clear that he had once been a general.”
The hats are no less splendid.
“There are days when the soul can be rescued from despair by the right hat,” the countess tells Marta as she makes a selection for that day. “Although some days, of course the soul seems beyond rescue, and then there is nothing to do except to be patient and wait for the light to return, with or without a hat upon your head.”
Marta devours each story and keeps coming back for more. (Forgive the meta interruption, but I suggest the same approach to Kate DiCamillo’s stories.) And you will be as thrilled as Marta when a delicate thread starts to appear between them.
“The parents loved the boy beyond all reason. They lived in fear of losing him. They were happy. They were terrified. This is what it means to love.”
October 8, 2024
I’m just gonna say it: The Hoel Balzaar and Puppets of Spelhorst are weird. Kate DiCamillo is a treasure, and a skillful storyteller, but these two books are just too odd for me. I understand the interconnected story elements and the hope for happiness, but the grim settings and bizarre characters did not grab me. Not even the parrot. So, perhaps you will feel differently.
November 6, 2024
4.5 ⭐️
Effortlessly beautiful writing. A great read on a snowy day if only a fascist hadn’t been elected last night
Effortlessly beautiful writing. A great read on a snowy day if only a fascist hadn’t been elected last night
June 3, 2025
AUDREY'S ONE-SENTENCE BOOK REVIEWS
book for second graders emotionally destroys adult woman
book for second graders emotionally destroys adult woman
November 10, 2024
Book 2 in the Norendy Tales by Kate DiCamillo.
🏨
Marta’s mother has one rule for her: stay quiet and invisible while she’s working as a maid for the Hotel Balzaar. Marta is good at being a little mouse until she meets a countess with a parrot who has seven stories to tell Marta. Marta listens day after day to the different stories, asking questions, wanting to know how it ends and she wonders if the stories had anything to do with her father who has been missing since he went to war.
🦜
The narrator really brought me into the story. I was riveted, wanting to know how the stories were connected. DiCamillo has been hit or miss for me over the past several years, but I’m happy @thebookmommy recommended it because I did enjoy it.
Thank you @prhaudio for the ALC. All opinions are my own.
CW: adoption, parental abandonment, classism
3.5 ⭐️
🏨
Marta’s mother has one rule for her: stay quiet and invisible while she’s working as a maid for the Hotel Balzaar. Marta is good at being a little mouse until she meets a countess with a parrot who has seven stories to tell Marta. Marta listens day after day to the different stories, asking questions, wanting to know how it ends and she wonders if the stories had anything to do with her father who has been missing since he went to war.
🦜
The narrator really brought me into the story. I was riveted, wanting to know how the stories were connected. DiCamillo has been hit or miss for me over the past several years, but I’m happy @thebookmommy recommended it because I did enjoy it.
Thank you @prhaudio for the ALC. All opinions are my own.
CW: adoption, parental abandonment, classism
3.5 ⭐️
Displaying 1 - 30 of 496 reviews