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Clair de Lune
Clair-de-Lune lives with her grandmother in the tippy-top of a peculiar old building. Every day she practices ballet, just like her mother before her—the famous ballerina who died when Clair-de-Lune was just a baby. Since that day, Clair-de-Lune hasn’t uttered a word.
Then one day the girl who cannot speak meets a remarkable mouse who can. Bonaventure dreams of founding a dancing school just for mice—but he dreams of helping his new friend, too. Soon the brave little mouse introduces Clair-de-Lune to a hidden world inside, and yet somehow beyond, her building—a world that slowly begins to open her heart. Maybe one day her dreams will come true, too.
Then one day the girl who cannot speak meets a remarkable mouse who can. Bonaventure dreams of founding a dancing school just for mice—but he dreams of helping his new friend, too. Soon the brave little mouse introduces Clair-de-Lune to a hidden world inside, and yet somehow beyond, her building—a world that slowly begins to open her heart. Maybe one day her dreams will come true, too.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published June 7, 2004
9 people are currently reading
467 people want to read
About the author
Cassandra Golds
7 books70 followersCassandra Golds was born in Sydney, Australia and grew up reading Hans Christian Andersen, C.S. Lewis and Nicholas Stuart Gray over and over again — and writing her own stories as soon as she could hold a pen. Her first book, Michael and the Secret War, was accepted for publication when she was nineteen years old and she is proud to have been “discovered” by the incomparable Jennifer Rowe (also known as Emily Rodda) who was her very first editor and mentor. In collaboration with the artist Stephen Axelsen, she went on to write a string of flamboyantly themed graphic novels, all of which have been published as monthly serials in the venerable New South Wales School Magazine in Australia.
She wrote Clair-de-Lune after coming upon the fascinating fact that many people have difficulty in saying their own name without 'pulling back' their voice. The Museum of Mary Child, her latest novel, was inspired by a nightmare.
“I dreamed a whole chapter of that book,” she says. “It’s the one where Heloise first sees inside the Museum. But the rest of it I made up while I was awake!”
Cassandra writes in a room with buttercup yellow walls and a poster-sized map of Narnia hanging on the wall above her desk. She has had this map since she was ten years old. Her favourite book is Down in the Cellar by Nicholas Stuart Gray and if a genii gave her three wishes she would use one of them to bring it back into print for the readers of today. If she wasn’t a writer, she would like to be an actor — but only if she could be in a production of Hair or Godspell.
You can friend her on Facebook (where she has started a Nicholas Stuart Gray Appreciation Society), or follow her on Twitter.
She wrote Clair-de-Lune after coming upon the fascinating fact that many people have difficulty in saying their own name without 'pulling back' their voice. The Museum of Mary Child, her latest novel, was inspired by a nightmare.
“I dreamed a whole chapter of that book,” she says. “It’s the one where Heloise first sees inside the Museum. But the rest of it I made up while I was awake!”
Cassandra writes in a room with buttercup yellow walls and a poster-sized map of Narnia hanging on the wall above her desk. She has had this map since she was ten years old. Her favourite book is Down in the Cellar by Nicholas Stuart Gray and if a genii gave her three wishes she would use one of them to bring it back into print for the readers of today. If she wasn’t a writer, she would like to be an actor — but only if she could be in a production of Hair or Godspell.
You can friend her on Facebook (where she has started a Nicholas Stuart Gray Appreciation Society), or follow her on Twitter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
November 7, 2010
Clair-de-Lune by Cassandra Golds – The Mouse, The Monk and the Moonlight Ballerina...
“Once upon a time – one hundred years ago, and half as many years again – there lived a girl called Clair-de-Lune, who could not speak”
So we meet our heroine, Clair-de-Lune, who lives at the top of a very tall, very narrow, very old building with her Grandmother, Madame Nuit. Clair-de-Lune has not spoken a word since the night her mother, the great ballerina La Lune, died onstage…
“at the end of a tragic and beautiful ballet about swans, who, it is said, are mute until the very last moments of their lives, when they give forth the most lovely of all songs”
Do not be fooled, this is no ordinary ballet story. Indeed, it is no ordinary fairy-tale.
Clair-de-Lune lives a singular existence in the attic of the building with six floors, with two rickety staircases for each floor. Each morning she attends her dance class with Monsieur Dupoint three floors below, returns to the attic for lessons with Grandmother, then ventures out to the street “just outside” to buy what groceries her Grandmother can afford. It is a small, dark world, where there is never enough to eat, where she is intimidated by her classmates and her Grandmother, and where she cannot make her feelings heard, that encloses our Clair-de-Lune.
But it is a building full of secrets, and a building full of memory. And the day that Mr Sparrow, the class pianist, plays a song that awakens a long-forgotten feeling in Clair-de-Lune, a mysterious feeling that brings a flood of tears, the secrets begin to unravel. For while Clair-de-Lune cannot make a noise, there is a mouse who hears her silent sorrow.
And while Clair-de-Lune cannot speak, Bonaventure can speak for her. Great Bonaventure the dancing mouse takes Clair-de-Lune deep into a world within her tiny world, beneath the darkness and the secrets, where a monk may help the Moonlight ballerina find her voice.
In a touching, sometimes melancholy, beautifully crafted world, Cassandra Golds and her Clair-de-Lune reach out to every child who has ever felt different, lonely, and the utter despair of feeling there are too many things they cannot change. But for every exploration of grief, of guilt, of fear and loss, there is a resounding theme of love and the most wonderful of friends.
‘Few people,’ he remarked ‘appreciate the skill mice have attained in calligraphy!’
Indeed dear Bonaventure, few of us have.
You can visit our blog at Crickhollow Books
February 22, 2020
2020 EDIT: A reread from this year that is so far the only one that's even better on the second visit.
No, more than better: 'Clair de Lune' is a near perfect original children's fairy tale. I can't gush enough how enchanting, creative, delightful, sweet, charming, sorrowful, and bittersweet this book is; short yet brimming and swelling with magic.
The power and potential it holds is winsome, sirenic.
A twelve-year-old ballerina without a voice; a dead ballerina mother shrouded in mystery; a secretive and heartbroken grandmother; a mouse with a dream of teaching other mice to dance, and of writing and performing his own mouse ballet; a kindhearted monk who lives on the other side of a magical portal - to a seaside monastery; lessons in speaking but most importantly, listening; an ever changing tower home; a lost bird with a red crested plumage and heart who is Clair de Lune's voice; a devious cat; a fortune teller; dancing and the hard work, toil and sacrifice that comes with it; a lesson on how love is the most important thing there is.
Seriously, why has 'Clair de Lune' not been made into an animated movie yet?! It was written exactly for it!
There is a daring tragedy near the end, which I appreciate. There is healing and hope - a promise of freedom and adventure on the horizon - to the happily ever after, as well. The fairy tale is so intricately and cleverly structured!
The only problem is that the ending is a little rushed, with not every story thread resolved; thus the singular reason for 'Clair de Lune' not turning out a favourite, a perfect bright star, for me. Furthermore, Clair de Lune - young, active, determined, wishful, thoughtful, sensitive, caring, and heartfelt - doesn't really have any female friends.
But I can't let that deter me from pronouncing 'Clair de Lune' a criminally underrated masterpiece. There are not many original fairy tales and children's books like it. It needs to be considered a classic. To everyone who may read this review, read this book. Tell everyone you know to read it. Recommend it to as many people as possible. Make more and more and more people aware of its existence. An animated tour de force may still be possible!
Additionally: Clair de Lune's mother, the famous La Lune, had died of a broken heart onstage when Clair de Lune was a baby. La Lune was seventeen and very petite and thin. Heartbreak, and a borderline, impossibly difficult ballet dance for humans, are what took her life. Yet no one wonders how she survived childbirth? This detail is never mentioned. Keep in mind also that this is set in the 19th century, back when that mortality rate was high, when the all-male doctors didn't give a £"&%*! about pregnant women, and midwives were still stigmatized after the witch hunting era. I just thought I'd put that out there.
Final Score: 4.5/5
Original Review:
A book I once picked up in my school library - a book no one seems to know exists.
A charming, original fairy tale. 'Clair de Lune' is a ballet story that is both magical and tragic - tragical, as it were. Sweet and seemingly simple, but subtle and intricate in its storytelling. It becomes unexpectedly sad as well towards the dramatic climax.
I enjoyed this wistful and mysterious gem. I think it can be an enjoyable treat for young aspiring dancers too.
If only this was more well-known. It would make a good children's fantasy tale in another medium, such as animation.
Final Score: 4/5
No, more than better: 'Clair de Lune' is a near perfect original children's fairy tale. I can't gush enough how enchanting, creative, delightful, sweet, charming, sorrowful, and bittersweet this book is; short yet brimming and swelling with magic.
The power and potential it holds is winsome, sirenic.
A twelve-year-old ballerina without a voice; a dead ballerina mother shrouded in mystery; a secretive and heartbroken grandmother; a mouse with a dream of teaching other mice to dance, and of writing and performing his own mouse ballet; a kindhearted monk who lives on the other side of a magical portal - to a seaside monastery; lessons in speaking but most importantly, listening; an ever changing tower home; a lost bird with a red crested plumage and heart who is Clair de Lune's voice; a devious cat; a fortune teller; dancing and the hard work, toil and sacrifice that comes with it; a lesson on how love is the most important thing there is.
Seriously, why has 'Clair de Lune' not been made into an animated movie yet?! It was written exactly for it!
There is a daring tragedy near the end, which I appreciate. There is healing and hope - a promise of freedom and adventure on the horizon - to the happily ever after, as well. The fairy tale is so intricately and cleverly structured!
The only problem is that the ending is a little rushed, with not every story thread resolved; thus the singular reason for 'Clair de Lune' not turning out a favourite, a perfect bright star, for me. Furthermore, Clair de Lune - young, active, determined, wishful, thoughtful, sensitive, caring, and heartfelt - doesn't really have any female friends.
But I can't let that deter me from pronouncing 'Clair de Lune' a criminally underrated masterpiece. There are not many original fairy tales and children's books like it. It needs to be considered a classic. To everyone who may read this review, read this book. Tell everyone you know to read it. Recommend it to as many people as possible. Make more and more and more people aware of its existence. An animated tour de force may still be possible!
Additionally: Clair de Lune's mother, the famous La Lune, had died of a broken heart onstage when Clair de Lune was a baby. La Lune was seventeen and very petite and thin. Heartbreak, and a borderline, impossibly difficult ballet dance for humans, are what took her life. Yet no one wonders how she survived childbirth? This detail is never mentioned. Keep in mind also that this is set in the 19th century, back when that mortality rate was high, when the all-male doctors didn't give a £"&%*! about pregnant women, and midwives were still stigmatized after the witch hunting era. I just thought I'd put that out there.
Final Score: 4.5/5
Original Review:
A book I once picked up in my school library - a book no one seems to know exists.
A charming, original fairy tale. 'Clair de Lune' is a ballet story that is both magical and tragic - tragical, as it were. Sweet and seemingly simple, but subtle and intricate in its storytelling. It becomes unexpectedly sad as well towards the dramatic climax.
I enjoyed this wistful and mysterious gem. I think it can be an enjoyable treat for young aspiring dancers too.
If only this was more well-known. It would make a good children's fantasy tale in another medium, such as animation.
Final Score: 4/5
September 16, 2010
ini kisah clair de lune, gadis kecil, anak seorang balerina, yg diasuh neneknya setelah ibunya meninggal ketika sedang menari diatas panggung...
clair tidak bisa berbicara, tak punya teman, sampai dia bertemu dengan
Bonaventure, seekor tikus yang sangat gemar menari dan bermimpi punya perusahaan tari khusus untuk tikus. Dan karena bonaventur, clair bisa bertemu Bruder Inchmahome, yang dengan keahliannya mendengarkan, bisa berkomunikasi dengan clair..
clair memiliki bakat sperti ibunya, dan ia diminta oleh perusahaan tari untuk membawakan tarian yg dibawakan oleh ibunya disaat terakhirnya..
walau Monsieur Dupoint, guru tari clair tidak setuju, karena takut clair akan tertekan, tapi karena neneknya setuju maka clair mengikuti perintah sang nenek....
apakah clair berhasil mementaskannya, ya silahkan dibaca deh :p
kisah ini indah, tapi gw kurang setuju penerbit mentargetkan buku ini untuk usia 9-12 tahun, sepertinya agak berat buat anak usia 9 atau 10 tahun.
hmmm saat clair n bonaventur menuju biara tempat bruder Inchmahome, bikin gw teringet akan Lucy yg melewati lemari untuk menuju Narnia :D
"tak ada orang yang akan sungguh-sungguh suka atau benci, apa yang tidak dikenalnya"
(hal.113)
eh iya, ketinggalan, makasi ya massssss ijuuuuuullllll...... eh ini ngasih kan?
apa ntar ada bonnya ya? #kedipkediplugu
clair tidak bisa berbicara, tak punya teman, sampai dia bertemu dengan
Bonaventure, seekor tikus yang sangat gemar menari dan bermimpi punya perusahaan tari khusus untuk tikus. Dan karena bonaventur, clair bisa bertemu Bruder Inchmahome, yang dengan keahliannya mendengarkan, bisa berkomunikasi dengan clair..
clair memiliki bakat sperti ibunya, dan ia diminta oleh perusahaan tari untuk membawakan tarian yg dibawakan oleh ibunya disaat terakhirnya..
walau Monsieur Dupoint, guru tari clair tidak setuju, karena takut clair akan tertekan, tapi karena neneknya setuju maka clair mengikuti perintah sang nenek....
apakah clair berhasil mementaskannya, ya silahkan dibaca deh :p
kisah ini indah, tapi gw kurang setuju penerbit mentargetkan buku ini untuk usia 9-12 tahun, sepertinya agak berat buat anak usia 9 atau 10 tahun.
hmmm saat clair n bonaventur menuju biara tempat bruder Inchmahome, bikin gw teringet akan Lucy yg melewati lemari untuk menuju Narnia :D
"tak ada orang yang akan sungguh-sungguh suka atau benci, apa yang tidak dikenalnya"
(hal.113)
eh iya, ketinggalan, makasi ya massssss ijuuuuuullllll...... eh ini ngasih kan?
apa ntar ada bonnya ya? #kedipkediplugu
March 9, 2017
Buku yang sudah menunggu bertahun-tahun untuk dibaca. Akhirnya.
Membaca buku ini gambaran yang dapat kubayangkan sebagai sebuah film adalah sebuah film yang muram dengan warna abu-abu. Berlatar belakang suatu negara Eropa 150 tahun yang lalu.Satu era dimana kekurangan dan ekonomi yang terpuruk terjadi.
Buku ini bercerita tentang hidup seorang gadis kecil. Clair de Lune. Clair menjalani hidupnya dengan belajar tari balet. Selain itu, Clair tidak bersekolah secara formal. Nenek Clair yang tinggal berdua dengannya mengajarkan semua hal yang dipikirnya perlu dan menyembunyikan hal-hal lain yang dianggapnya akan merusak hidup cucu nya yaitu cinta.
Tari adalah satu-satu sumber kehidupan Clair. Neneknya dulu adalah penari, begitupun ibu Clair juga seorang penari. Ibunya seorang penari berbakat yang tewas diakhir pertunjukannya.
Clair yang tidak bisa berbicara, didalam sunyi mencoba mengerti kondisi yang melingkupinya.
Satu diantara hal menyedihkan buatku adalah waktu Bonaventure tewas, tikus penari pemilik perusahaan tari pada saat dia menyiapkan pementasan balet tikus.
Saat bahagia seperti sinar yang lebih terang dan hanya terjadi diakhir film saat Clair yang berjalan menggenggam tangan ayahnya.
Membaca buku ini gambaran yang dapat kubayangkan sebagai sebuah film adalah sebuah film yang muram dengan warna abu-abu. Berlatar belakang suatu negara Eropa 150 tahun yang lalu.Satu era dimana kekurangan dan ekonomi yang terpuruk terjadi.
Buku ini bercerita tentang hidup seorang gadis kecil. Clair de Lune. Clair menjalani hidupnya dengan belajar tari balet. Selain itu, Clair tidak bersekolah secara formal. Nenek Clair yang tinggal berdua dengannya mengajarkan semua hal yang dipikirnya perlu dan menyembunyikan hal-hal lain yang dianggapnya akan merusak hidup cucu nya yaitu cinta.
Tari adalah satu-satu sumber kehidupan Clair. Neneknya dulu adalah penari, begitupun ibu Clair juga seorang penari. Ibunya seorang penari berbakat yang tewas diakhir pertunjukannya.
Clair yang tidak bisa berbicara, didalam sunyi mencoba mengerti kondisi yang melingkupinya.
Satu diantara hal menyedihkan buatku adalah waktu Bonaventure tewas, tikus penari pemilik perusahaan tari pada saat dia menyiapkan pementasan balet tikus.
Saat bahagia seperti sinar yang lebih terang dan hanya terjadi diakhir film saat Clair yang berjalan menggenggam tangan ayahnya.
May 5, 2017
This modern publication is written in the tone of a children's tale from the early 20th century with its slow pacing, didactic nature, old fashioned language and romantic names. Clair de Lune told by an omniscient narrator reveals a fantastical story of the unlikely friendship between a mute orphan ballerina and a dancing mouse who can travel through time and space to a monastery where a wise Brother lives. The world building is magical and the story full of whimsy, making the reading of it beautiful however I found the end abrupt and the suggested moral of the story (love) did not come to full fruition, which left the story feeling incomplete.
January 11, 2024
The ebook with ISBN 9780307494504 is riddled with OCR scan typos. It's incredibly distracting from the story, having five or more typos on every page. I don't think I can continue reading this. I enjoyed the first few chapters, but not the constant puzzling out of so many words and missing punctuation.
What is it with publishers and ebooks, why didn't they proof read the final copy? This is a common problem, and I truly can't comprehend why it occurs.
What is it with publishers and ebooks, why didn't they proof read the final copy? This is a common problem, and I truly can't comprehend why it occurs.
February 21, 2008
Disclaimer: the author is one of my dearest friends, I read this in manuscript and I launched it, so I am hardly a dispassionate reader! But I genuinely love it—it is a romantic, tender, old-fashioned fantasy of ballet, broken hearts and Bonaventure, a dancing mouse.
That, dear reader, should give you an idea of its audience!
That, dear reader, should give you an idea of its audience!
August 5, 2007
I give it 3.5 stars. Romantic names and surroundings (Madame Nuit, La Lune, Clair-de-Lune--like one of my favorite classical pieces), simple yet moving story, yet I don't like the ending. Too abrupt and to me, not that satisfying. (Several points are not quite clear to me.)
January 25, 2015
I read this book at the age of 9 I believe and I loved it !
September 4, 2020
Clair De Lune is an amazing book about a girl named Clair de Lune who is mute, 14 years old, lives with her frail grandma in an apartment and does ballet.
The blurb says “Clair-de-Lune has lived all her life with her grandmother at the top of a very tall, very narrow, very old building. Her mother, a great ballerina, died on stage when Clair-de-Lune was a baby. Ever since that day, Clair-de-Lune has not uttered a word. Then she meets tiny, brave Bonaventure (a talking dancer-mouse) who takes her to the mysterious monastery hidden in a secret fold of Clair-de-Lune's apartment building. But this is only the beginning of the journey for Clair-de-Lune, and she could never have dreamed what adventures were still to come.”
It’s a very good book and I guess sort of a fantasy and I would suggest it for ages 9 to 13 and give it a 4 and a half star rating.
The blurb says “Clair-de-Lune has lived all her life with her grandmother at the top of a very tall, very narrow, very old building. Her mother, a great ballerina, died on stage when Clair-de-Lune was a baby. Ever since that day, Clair-de-Lune has not uttered a word. Then she meets tiny, brave Bonaventure (a talking dancer-mouse) who takes her to the mysterious monastery hidden in a secret fold of Clair-de-Lune's apartment building. But this is only the beginning of the journey for Clair-de-Lune, and she could never have dreamed what adventures were still to come.”
It’s a very good book and I guess sort of a fantasy and I would suggest it for ages 9 to 13 and give it a 4 and a half star rating.
February 13, 2018
Clair-de-Lune lives with her grandmother in the top of a peculiar old building. Every day she practices ballet, just like her mother before her—the famous ballerina who died when Clair-de-Lune was just a baby. Since that day, Clair-de-Lune hasn’t uttered a word.
Then one day the girl who cannot speak meets a remarkable mouse who can. Bonaventure dreams of founding a dancing school just for mice—but he dreams of helping his new friend, too. Soon the brave little mouse introduces Clair-de-Lune to a hidden world inside, and yet somehow beyond, her building—a world that slowly begins to open her heart.
This is a surprisingly deep and somewhat sad story about love lost and then found and what sacrifices we are willing to make to have it.
Then one day the girl who cannot speak meets a remarkable mouse who can. Bonaventure dreams of founding a dancing school just for mice—but he dreams of helping his new friend, too. Soon the brave little mouse introduces Clair-de-Lune to a hidden world inside, and yet somehow beyond, her building—a world that slowly begins to open her heart.
This is a surprisingly deep and somewhat sad story about love lost and then found and what sacrifices we are willing to make to have it.
December 27, 2024
I'd read this one a few years ago, and really enjoyed it, so I decided to read it again today. I still find parts of it really sad, though I love the storyline. It is about the daughter of a famous ballerina, who died onstage of a broken heart. Clair-de-Lune has never talked. Everyone thinks she's a snob, but she truly cannot speak. Like her mother, and her grandmother, Clair-de-Lune is a ballerina. And then talking mice get involved. Talking, ballerina mice. (Yes, my description is terrible... sorry!)
Amazing book, totally read it =)
Amazing book, totally read it =)
November 30, 2016
It's beautiful!
Kita diajak untuk melihat dunia milik Clair-de-Lune. Bagaimana kesedihan dan kegundahan hatinya, pertemuannya dengan Bonaventure-si tikus yang baik hati, petualangannya di dunia baru -yang tersembunyi- di gedung tempat tinggalnya, dst.
Selama membaca aku ikut sedih, senang, marah. Dan entah kenapa endingnya bikin gerimis di hati.. huhuhu...
Kita diajak untuk melihat dunia milik Clair-de-Lune. Bagaimana kesedihan dan kegundahan hatinya, pertemuannya dengan Bonaventure-si tikus yang baik hati, petualangannya di dunia baru -yang tersembunyi- di gedung tempat tinggalnya, dst.
Selama membaca aku ikut sedih, senang, marah. Dan entah kenapa endingnya bikin gerimis di hati.. huhuhu...
November 21, 2025
I read this when I was 12 and remembered crying and loving it.
Something about the grief, ballet and befriending a mouse i guess?
All I knew is reading this book made me feel like watching a snowglobe for the first time. Whimsical, beautiful, eerie yet heartwarming.
Something about the grief, ballet and befriending a mouse i guess?
All I knew is reading this book made me feel like watching a snowglobe for the first time. Whimsical, beautiful, eerie yet heartwarming.
November 3, 2023
Read this book when I was younger. Love the story sm and it got my elementary-school-self cried and sobbed intensely🥹
Read
May 11, 2025omg i just suddenly remembered this book i'm so glad i found it...
July 5, 2021
Simple, timeless and endearing story for melancholy indulgers.
June 11, 2018
Exquisite and sensitively crafted. Stories within stories. Clair de Lune is an orphan ballerina raised by a strict grandmother. She befriends a mouse who takes her to a magical monastery, it is in the building where they both live - she lives in the attic and the ballet school she attends is in the same building. The monastery reveals a kind hearted monk who has exceptional listening skills. He works with the mouse to help Clair regain her power of speech. A story of redemption, courage, compassion and above all the importance of heartful listening. Worth reading again and again.
Read
April 25, 2013Kematian La Lune di panggung ketika menari membuat Clair de Lune yang masih kecil itu membisu. Clair de lune sebenarnya tidak mempunyai kelainan, tetapi sejak kematian ibunya dia memang tidak dididik untuk bicara.
Neneknya juga tidak menghendaki Clair de Lune bisa bicara. Nenek Clair de Lune sangat takut jika cucunya bicara, dia akan mempunyai banyak teman dan jatuh cinta. Dia tidak menghendaki nasibnya tragis seperti ibunya, La Lune yang meninggal ketika menari karena patah hati.
Jadilah Clair de Lune hidup kesepian, teman-teman di sekolah balet tidak menyukainya. Perlakuan istimewa yang diberikan oleh gurunya monsieur du point membuat teman-temannya iri dan sangat membencinya.
Neneknya mengimpikan cleir de lune bisa seperti ibunya yang bisa menari dengan sangat indah yang akhirnya bisa mendatangkan kekayaan bagi dirinya. Namun pertemanan clair de lune dengan bonaventure, tikus kecil yang mempunyai impian punya sekolah balet ini merubah segala. Bonaventure membawanya ke sebuah biara misterius di salah satu sudut rahasia bangunan apartemen Clair de Lune.
Di Biara itu Clair de Lune bertemu dengan Brucher Inchmahome. Clair de Lune baru pertama kalinya merasakan didengar meski tanpa kata. Brucher Inchmahome menawarkannya untuk mengajarinya bicara, Namun untuk bisa belajar bicara Clair de lune harus menjawab pertanyaan mengapa dia tidak bicara dan juga belajar mendengar, karena untuk dapat berbicara dengan baik seseorang harus mampu mendengar dengan baik.
Sejak itu dan setelah kunjungannya ke gereja, dia mendapat kesimpulan baru bahwa tari yang didewakannya itu tidak lebih penting dari kasih. dan mendengar adalah kasih. Clair de Lune mulai berubah. Dan di tengah keengganannya untuk mempersembahkan hidupnya di atas panggung, Clair de Lune malah harus memerankan tarian ibunya di panggung sebagai persembahan di perayaan ulang tahun 100 tahun sekolah tari.
Memang buku ini bergendre fantasi tetapi pesan moralnya sangat kuat, untuk belajar mendengar dengan hati, bahkan pada apa yang tak terucap. Pemilihan diksi yang sederhana membuatku nyaris tak bisa berhenti, padahal buku ini kupinjam sejak berbulan-bulan lalu he….
Neneknya juga tidak menghendaki Clair de Lune bisa bicara. Nenek Clair de Lune sangat takut jika cucunya bicara, dia akan mempunyai banyak teman dan jatuh cinta. Dia tidak menghendaki nasibnya tragis seperti ibunya, La Lune yang meninggal ketika menari karena patah hati.
Jadilah Clair de Lune hidup kesepian, teman-teman di sekolah balet tidak menyukainya. Perlakuan istimewa yang diberikan oleh gurunya monsieur du point membuat teman-temannya iri dan sangat membencinya.
Neneknya mengimpikan cleir de lune bisa seperti ibunya yang bisa menari dengan sangat indah yang akhirnya bisa mendatangkan kekayaan bagi dirinya. Namun pertemanan clair de lune dengan bonaventure, tikus kecil yang mempunyai impian punya sekolah balet ini merubah segala. Bonaventure membawanya ke sebuah biara misterius di salah satu sudut rahasia bangunan apartemen Clair de Lune.
Di Biara itu Clair de Lune bertemu dengan Brucher Inchmahome. Clair de Lune baru pertama kalinya merasakan didengar meski tanpa kata. Brucher Inchmahome menawarkannya untuk mengajarinya bicara, Namun untuk bisa belajar bicara Clair de lune harus menjawab pertanyaan mengapa dia tidak bicara dan juga belajar mendengar, karena untuk dapat berbicara dengan baik seseorang harus mampu mendengar dengan baik.
Sejak itu dan setelah kunjungannya ke gereja, dia mendapat kesimpulan baru bahwa tari yang didewakannya itu tidak lebih penting dari kasih. dan mendengar adalah kasih. Clair de Lune mulai berubah. Dan di tengah keengganannya untuk mempersembahkan hidupnya di atas panggung, Clair de Lune malah harus memerankan tarian ibunya di panggung sebagai persembahan di perayaan ulang tahun 100 tahun sekolah tari.
Memang buku ini bergendre fantasi tetapi pesan moralnya sangat kuat, untuk belajar mendengar dengan hati, bahkan pada apa yang tak terucap. Pemilihan diksi yang sederhana membuatku nyaris tak bisa berhenti, padahal buku ini kupinjam sejak berbulan-bulan lalu he….
July 10, 2007
Clair-de-Lune adalah calon penari yang berbakat. Ia adalah anak La Luna, bintang di Perusahaan Tari yang meninggal ketika sedang menari di panggung. Tapi, sayang, ia tidak dapat bicara sejak ia masih bayi. Bersama neneknya, ia tinggal di sebuah puncak menara yang sempit, aneh dan tua. Karena ia tidak pernah berbicara, Clair-de-Lune dicap sombong oleh temant-teman sesama penari balet. Sebab lain adalah karena Clair-de-Lune menjadi 'anak emas' Monsieur Dupoint
Suatu hari, seusai latihan menari balet, seekor tikus menghampirinya. Herannya, tikus itu bisa mendengar tangisan dan isakan lirih Clair-de-Lune, tikus itu bisa mengerti dirinya. Tikus itu bernama Bonaventure, seekor tikus penari yang mempunyai obsesi memiliki sekolah tari balet khusus tikus. Di dalam lubang tikusnya, ada studio mini tempat ia berlatih balet, lengkap dengan cermin dan barre.
Ternyata, Nenek Clair-de-Lune, Madam Nuit ternyata menyimpan rahasia di balik kematian La Luna. Rahasia yang membuat Madam Nuit terlalu melindungi Clair-de-Lune.
Membaca buku ini, gue jadi inget buku Kisah Desperaux, tentang tikus yang pengen jadi ‘knight in shinning armor’. Sedangkan di buku ini, kisah Bonaventure yang punya cita-cita mendirikan sekolah tari para tikus. Paling nggak membuat tikus jadi tokoh yang menggemaskan dan gak menjijikan. Coba ada ilustrasinya, pasti lebih keren lagi.
Suatu hari, seusai latihan menari balet, seekor tikus menghampirinya. Herannya, tikus itu bisa mendengar tangisan dan isakan lirih Clair-de-Lune, tikus itu bisa mengerti dirinya. Tikus itu bernama Bonaventure, seekor tikus penari yang mempunyai obsesi memiliki sekolah tari balet khusus tikus. Di dalam lubang tikusnya, ada studio mini tempat ia berlatih balet, lengkap dengan cermin dan barre.
Ternyata, Nenek Clair-de-Lune, Madam Nuit ternyata menyimpan rahasia di balik kematian La Luna. Rahasia yang membuat Madam Nuit terlalu melindungi Clair-de-Lune.
Membaca buku ini, gue jadi inget buku Kisah Desperaux, tentang tikus yang pengen jadi ‘knight in shinning armor’. Sedangkan di buku ini, kisah Bonaventure yang punya cita-cita mendirikan sekolah tari para tikus. Paling nggak membuat tikus jadi tokoh yang menggemaskan dan gak menjijikan. Coba ada ilustrasinya, pasti lebih keren lagi.
June 14, 2010
Claire-de-Lune is studying ballet to follow in her mother's footsteps. But Claire is pitifully poor and underfed and living at the top story of a building with her grandmother. Claire's mother died of a broken heart at the end of a performance at the age of eighteen and, although she was only a baby then, Claire has been mute her entire life.
Her grandmother does not want to lose another child to a broken heart, so she has brought Claire up without much love or knowledge of it--the young girl lives a very solitary, lonely life. She is much encouraged when a small mouse named Bonaventure befriends her and tells her of his own great love of ballet and his desire to open a ballet school for mice.
In addition, he wishes for her to meet a friend of his, a monk who resides in the very same apartment building. This is a surprise to the young girl, for having lived in the building for a very long time and having walked up and down the stairs many time, she is completely unaware of a "missing" story with a monastery. The good monk sees the pain the young girl is experiencing and tries to bring her to speak for the first time.
And then the story becomes even sadder than it already is. Upcoming ballerinas, lovers of fantasy featuring small animals, and those looking for a good cry will enjoy this book.
Her grandmother does not want to lose another child to a broken heart, so she has brought Claire up without much love or knowledge of it--the young girl lives a very solitary, lonely life. She is much encouraged when a small mouse named Bonaventure befriends her and tells her of his own great love of ballet and his desire to open a ballet school for mice.
In addition, he wishes for her to meet a friend of his, a monk who resides in the very same apartment building. This is a surprise to the young girl, for having lived in the building for a very long time and having walked up and down the stairs many time, she is completely unaware of a "missing" story with a monastery. The good monk sees the pain the young girl is experiencing and tries to bring her to speak for the first time.
And then the story becomes even sadder than it already is. Upcoming ballerinas, lovers of fantasy featuring small animals, and those looking for a good cry will enjoy this book.
April 12, 2020
You can also read this review on my blog at: http://oddfeather.co/2017/05/29/revie...
This novel is a beautiful, rich, meandering magic realist story with many fairy tale elements carefully winding through it. It is a coming-of-age story that follows twelve year old ballerina Clair-de-Lune who lives under the thumb of her ex-ballerina grandmother and in the shadow of her famous dead ballerina mother La Lune. They live in an enormous house that she feels she cannot escape, made even more suffocating by the fact that Clair-de-Lune cannot speak and thus has no way of making friends. Her grandmother impresses upon her daily the importance of pursuing the noble and pure art of The Dance and Clair-de-Lune feels as though she is suffocating inside herself. Only when a small mouse befriends her and takes her to a monastery hidden within their building does Clair-de-Lune begin to understand herself, her origins, and the future that she must grasp.
Although quite heavy on introspection and self-development, the occasional bright spot of the fantastical makes this story enjoyable enough to finish.
This novel is a beautiful, rich, meandering magic realist story with many fairy tale elements carefully winding through it. It is a coming-of-age story that follows twelve year old ballerina Clair-de-Lune who lives under the thumb of her ex-ballerina grandmother and in the shadow of her famous dead ballerina mother La Lune. They live in an enormous house that she feels she cannot escape, made even more suffocating by the fact that Clair-de-Lune cannot speak and thus has no way of making friends. Her grandmother impresses upon her daily the importance of pursuing the noble and pure art of The Dance and Clair-de-Lune feels as though she is suffocating inside herself. Only when a small mouse befriends her and takes her to a monastery hidden within their building does Clair-de-Lune begin to understand herself, her origins, and the future that she must grasp.
Although quite heavy on introspection and self-development, the occasional bright spot of the fantastical makes this story enjoyable enough to finish.
July 14, 2013
Cover edisi terjemahn ini memang bikin 'salah-tanggap' kukira hanya sekedar bacaan anak-anak yang ringan, ternyata mirip 'tales-of-dexperaux' by kate di camillo, dan ini sebenarnya bukan sekedar bacaan anak-anak (translation : little children), mungkin teenage more suitable.
Dari permulaan, sosok tikus yang suka sekali dengan 'tarian' sudah menyentuh hatiku, apalagi dengan karakter si gadis cilik Clair-de-lune, kemudian persahabatan mereka yang dijembatani oleh daya tarik serta keindahan melalui musik dan tarian ... sukses bikin jebol tanggul air mata deh *yang mau baca siapin sekotak tisue ya*
Ini adalah salah satu dari hasil 'coba-coba' beli+baca penulis yang tidak pernah kuketahui dan dengan sukses pula memikat hatiku, jadi penasaran dengan karya sang penulis lainnya ...
more about this book, just check at my review in here :
( http://alice-secret-garden.blogspot.c... )
March 9, 2014
Salah satu buku yang saya miliki awal-awal mengoleksi (dan dibeli dengan uang serta pilihan sendiri :D). Tertarik karena genrenya Famlit, dan waktu itu memang lagi terobsesi klasik di saat teenlit lagi menjamurnya. Begitulah.
Sepetti sampulnya, ceritanya juga manis, sendu, kayak lagi dengerin Nocturne-nya Chopin atau Clair de Lune-nya Debussy (jangan-jangan memang ada hubungannya--mungkin, terinspirasi--dari gubahan kece itu). Suka banget sama Bonaventure, jadi bener-bener sedih pas dia ngucapin kata-kata terakhit buat Clair-de-Lune :(
Penokohannya bagus, penggambaran latarnya juga dapet. Di atas itu semua, tema dan pesan moralnya yang benar-benar bikin saya pengen jadiin ini dongeng sebelum tidur untuk anak laki-laki saya nanti, hahaha. Buku ini juga sempat menantang saya untuk menulis cerita anak-anak yang manis, tapi beralur komplit. Semoga saja hehe.
*brb muter Debussy*
Sepetti sampulnya, ceritanya juga manis, sendu, kayak lagi dengerin Nocturne-nya Chopin atau Clair de Lune-nya Debussy (jangan-jangan memang ada hubungannya--mungkin, terinspirasi--dari gubahan kece itu). Suka banget sama Bonaventure, jadi bener-bener sedih pas dia ngucapin kata-kata terakhit buat Clair-de-Lune :(
Penokohannya bagus, penggambaran latarnya juga dapet. Di atas itu semua, tema dan pesan moralnya yang benar-benar bikin saya pengen jadiin ini dongeng sebelum tidur untuk anak laki-laki saya nanti, hahaha. Buku ini juga sempat menantang saya untuk menulis cerita anak-anak yang manis, tapi beralur komplit. Semoga saja hehe.
*brb muter Debussy*
July 9, 2009
I gave at least four stars for the books that made me cry :'( this is too sad for a children book! (well, it is labeled famlit not childrenlit)
the story is about clair-de-lune, a talented ballet dancer, she can't talk and is really really poor. she lives with her grandmama who was also a ballet dancer while her mother had passed away.
clair-de-lune also has a friend, Bonaventure, a dancing mouse whose dream is to have dancing school for mice.
I never like a story with a mouse as an important character before - I stopped reading clair-de-lune once they introduced bonaventure, BUT, as I finally continue reading it, I just love love this little mouse :') his passion for dancing and friendship and love just moved me *sigh*
the story is about clair-de-lune, a talented ballet dancer, she can't talk and is really really poor. she lives with her grandmama who was also a ballet dancer while her mother had passed away.
clair-de-lune also has a friend, Bonaventure, a dancing mouse whose dream is to have dancing school for mice.
I never like a story with a mouse as an important character before - I stopped reading clair-de-lune once they introduced bonaventure, BUT, as I finally continue reading it, I just love love this little mouse :') his passion for dancing and friendship and love just moved me *sigh*
October 8, 2013
this is a beautiful book about a young girl,who hasn't talked since her mother died,and her journey as a dancer and as a person. i won't give anything away but this book takes Clair de Lune's usual options and in my eyes takes them away and replaces -well not really 'replaces'- but they give Clair new options and new chances to explore a new world with her new friend. now Clair's new friend is an amazing character i loved how teh mouse's character was written. this book drew me in because before this book i hadn't read a book were the main character wouldn't speak and i found that it was refreshing in a way.
this is a good read. i recommend it.
- AG x
this is a good read. i recommend it.
- AG x
November 13, 2008
This was a sweet story and very easy read. I read it in a couple of hours probably. Clair-de-Lune can’t speak but she meets a mouse, Bonaparte, who can. Both love The Dance (ballet) and the book is about her experiences in trying to communicate, meeting her father (the tender hearted Brother Inchmahome) and finally gaining the ability to speak and overcoming her fears. Though the death of Bonaparte by the Cat was sad, I thought it was sweet that the other mice continued his ballet and also that the weary mouse traveler who had silk fur arrived just in time for the leading role. Sweet story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2013
i was going to give it three stars, but then it swooped in and stole my heart right at the end. the message about the way the other girls in the ballet class react to Clair-de-Lune's muteness is a lesson i wish everyone could have read and understood as a child - it would have made for a more accepting school environment for us quiet types, instead of the automatic assumption that you are a horrible snob because you don't talk to everyone. some of us just couldn't, for whatever reason. and it was nice to read something so original for a change, too - and from an Australian author!
February 7, 2009
I really liked this book because it has ballett in it and I used to do ballett until my dance studio moved but I am looking for a place to go and dance. I like this book because ......well...... I just really like it and if you want to know why and why it is so interesting you should read it.READ IT!!!!!!
July 30, 2012
I think this book belonged in the childrens' section, because talking mice don't make huge appearances in YA novels. But oh well.
It was cute and quaint and light and suitable for a wide age group. Clair-de-Lune was a bit pitiful throughout but still likable and the mouse, I forget his name, was the noblest of all.
It was cute and quaint and light and suitable for a wide age group. Clair-de-Lune was a bit pitiful throughout but still likable and the mouse, I forget his name, was the noblest of all.
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