The World of Maxime - Perfect Picture Book Friday #PPBF

Maria Marshall
2 minutes ago
5 min read

I love intergenerational books which create a friendship with an organic acknowledgement and acceptance of the character's distinct and irascible personalities. And I adore cats. So, this is the perfect picture book for me. This picture book is also a great combination of a graphic book and comic, a perfect stepping stone for readers between picture books and chapter books.

Book Cover - a child sits on a bench, with a cat in her lap, as an older woman reads a magazine about cats. Three cats and a kitten powl overhead along a fence and a cat crouches and investigates the woman's bag.

The World of Maxime

Author: Lucile de Pesloüan

Illustrator: Jacques Goldstyn

Translator: Helen Mixter

Publisher: Greystone Kids ( May 20, 2025)

Ages: 7-10

Fiction

Themes:

Friendship, self-confidence, courage, and cats.

Synopsis:

For fans of Katie the Catsitter and Matilda, comes a heartwarming story for kids ages 7-10 about finding courage and discovering the possibility of new friendships.

Maxime is ten years old. Her favorite things are her books and cats—especially her own cat, Turmeric. Like Matilda, the heroine of her favorite book, she feels different. She wouldn’t mind being like other kids but they make so much noise, it hurts her ears. So, her friends are the characters in her books, and her cat. If she were brave enough, she would talk to the new girl at school, who carries a copy of Matilda in her book bag.

One day, she finds some mysterious bowls in the alley behind her house. She dresses up like a detective in order to investigate and meets an older woman, Catmamou, who feeds the neighborhood's stray cats. Soon enough, the two become friends. Maxime confides in Catmamou, who encourages her to introduce herself to the new girl at school.

This heartwarming story by award-winning author Lucile de Pesloüan is told alongside graphic-style illustrations by celebrated artist Jacques Goldstyn.

An ode to cat-lovers, The World of Maxime is a celebration of friendship and an inspiring story about finding confidence in yourself.

Opening Lines:

Maxime is ten. Her favorite things are

books and cats. She's lucky because her

bedroom is full of books and she has a

cat. His name is Turmeric.

What I loved about this book:

This opening is intriguing. There are a lot of foreshadowed elements (the hat on the book stack, the black cat at the window, the picture above the bed) in this first image, as well as glimpses into Maxime's personality and that of Turmeric's. I think many bookophiles will recognize a kindred spirit in Maxime.

Internal spread - A girl on her bed, reading by moolight, surrounded with piles of books about the room, a guitar at the end of her bed, and her cat happily climbing to snuggle in bed.

Text © Lucile de Pesloüan, 2025. Image © Jacques Goldstyn, 2025.

Maxime's world is full of "adults who are always telling her what to do" (at home and at school) and blessed, snatched moments of reading. Including stolen moments snuggled with Turmeric under the covers, reading by the light of her headlamp. The only books she doesn't like reading are those "required" for school. This is so ingeniously illustrated by Jacques Goldstyn as a small child lugging and enormous book past a human skull in a desert, as buzzards circle and perch on the book! The Indian ink, watercolor, pencils, and colored inks illustrations are softly colored and vary between lose line drawings and more detailed illustrations.

Internal spread - on the left, four panels of girl reading at breakfast, noon, recess, and in class. Upper right, girl and cat lay on the floor reading, while mom cooks, Lower right, spotlight on girl reading on public transorpation.

Text © Lucile de Pesloüan, 2025. Image © Jacques Goldstyn, 2025.

I love how for this celebration of reading, the illustration changes from the more typical picture book illustrations to that of a graphic format. and then back to the picture book format. The book continues to seamlessly shift back and forth between these two formats.

Misunderstood at school, Maxime's feels a special kinship connection with the character of her favorite book - Matilda, by Roald Dahl. And, though excited to see a new girl at school with Matilda peeking out of her bag, Maxime is too shy to say "Hi." Everything starts to change when Maxime discovers a number of food dishes with cat kibble scattered about the lane. Maxime is intrigued, as this is in direct conflict with one of her mother's rules. Maxime notices the dishes are empty on her way to school the next morning and half full on her afternoon return. Armed with dark clothing, notepad, tape recorder, dark hat, and a broken camera (for effect), she heads out the next morning to investigate. I love Jacques Goldstyn's image of Maxime surveying her outfit in a full-length mirror. And all the little treasures he's hidden like the cat face carved into the top of the mirror, cat slippers, and a Felix lunch box. I also love that the publisher left the signs in French, when they translated the text.

When an older woman in a raincoat and cloche hat rides up on a bike, loaded with heavy bags, Maxime jumps from her hiding place and demands, "Who are you and what are you doing?" With a fun bit of perspective magic, Jacques Goldstyn depicts the woman as tall as the page towering over her bike and Maxime, holding a bowl of kibble, and growling "What's that got to do with you?" Curious, Maxime stands her ground and learns the woman, Catmamou, looks after stray cats in the lane. This spread shifts from the typical and graphic format into a comic book format. Lucile de Pesloüan does such a great job capturing the personality, emotion, and motivation of each character in the external and internal dialogue.

Internal image - in cartoon style panels on the top a girl and older woman introduce themselves, as the older woman fill cat food bowls. Lower left, the girl challenges the woman's feeing of the cats. Lower right, Closeup of the woman's snarling face.

Refusing to be intimidated by Catmamou, Maxime continues to question and push. Until finally, Catmamou agrees to let Maxime help her with the strays. As time passes, these two develop a close friendship - sharing the work, secrets, and advice. Two stunning wordless spreads offer readers a wonderful look at the progressive development of this intergenerational friendship.

Internal spread - in 7 differently colored spot illustrations, the girl and older woman feed the stray cats, spend time together, and tend to injured cats.

I hope you check out this book and especially the joyous, touching, and poignant ending, which will stay with you for a while. A wonderful "If You Find a Cat..." note offers a guide to knowing if a cat is a neighbor's, lost, or a community cat and the appropriate actions to take for each.

Wordier than a typical picture book, the fascinating and engaging shifts through various format styles and the wonderful capture of the angst of finding a friend while staying true to oneself make this picture book the perfect bridge between picture books and chapter books. It's so exciting to see these format styles and longer stories available for this age group of readers. This is a wonderful book full of friendship, caring for others, community, and of course cats.

Resources:

make a collage cat portrait, a cat marionette, or an origami cat (easy) or (harder).

what is your favorite place to read and what is your favorite book? Why?

pair this with Birdsong by Julie Flett, Drawn Together by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat, and Old Friends by Margaret Aitken, illustrated by Lenny Wen.

If you missed my interview with Lucile de Pesloüan on Monday, find it (here).

This post is part of a series of blog posts by authors and KidLit bloggers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays. For more picture book suggestions and resources see Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Books.