Mystery and Chocolate: A Story

by Jean Alessandrini

When she learns her new apartment house has invisible tenants, a monster, and mysterious daily deliveries of chocolate bars, Cindy decides to investigate

44 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Jean Alessandrini is a French typographer, illustrator, and writer, known for his detective novels and children's literature. He is particularly recognized for developing a classification of typefaces in 1979, known as Codex 80, and as a writer, he was awarded the Goncourt Youth Prize in 1994.

Reviews

[leynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in the mood to reread some of my childhood favourites and my choice fell on "Die geheimnisvolle Schokolade", a fun children's tale written by the French author Jean Alessandrini. Not gonna lie, one of the reasons that I was drawn into it again is that this is probably the only (!) children's and YA book that I read when I was younger that featured a Black protagonist. In hindsight, I find that quite shocking since I read over 300 books as a child and teenager.

"Die geheimnisvolle Schokolade" follows the young girl Sidonia as she is moving in to a new flat with her parents. Very quickly she learns that all of her neighbours are weird in one way or the other. Mister Baguette (I can't make that name up) of the second floor is always green in the face, the Matuschas of the third floor are never seen by anyone, Madame Croissant (I know those names are wonderful) lives on the fourth floor and gets visited by the millionaire and maharadscha of Rhalabul once a week. On the fifth floor, the men walk on the ceiling... and then there's this dangerous monster that plagues the inhabits of the housing complex. And what's up with the bars of chocolate that every tenant gets on a weekly basis?

Alongside with her newfound friend Sidonie sets out to uncover all those mysteries and secrets and learns, in the end, that everything is different than it seemed. It's an incredibly fun and heart-warming children's tale. Definitely something I would recommend for young readers (age 6-7).

[Halo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me tell you guys the story behind this book.
As a child, this was my favourite book and I used to read it everyday before bed.
I remembered it a couple years back and I thought I had lost it. Today I found it again at my cousin's house, it made me tear.
I reread it now and honestly it is such an amazing story. Very short but amazing indeed.
PS: it is a children's french book.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book for children.
I am learning french right now. So I can't give you an exact leveling of this book. I am probably somewhere between A2 and B1 in my reading abilities right now. I liked this funny little story. It was easy enough for me to understand and still learn some new words.
I will definitely try out some more of these "like to read" children books.