Books about France [Book Club]

The photo shows a notebook and pencil I bought as a souvenir at the Dior exhibition.
I participated in a book club on January 7, 2023.
I thought it was unusual to have one at the beginning of the year, and the organizer was a third-grade elementary school student. They said it would be held before the winter break ended.

The theme was "Books about France"
The organizer announced that they would introduce "The Little Prince"
.

If you were to participate, which book would you introduce?
(If you don't mind, please let me know your recommended books.)

I decided to participate, but I didn't have a suitable book on my bookshelf at home.
I thought of the following criteria for judging suitability:
1. Does the book's theme have something in common with "The Little Prince"?
2. Is it a book that an elementary school student wouldn't choose, or one they wouldn't know?
3. Is the reason for recommending it now easy to understand?
These are the three points.
I chose a book that met these criteria and also moved me.

After searching for and considering books based on these criteria,
I decided on "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris"
(hereafter referred to as "Mrs. Harris").

* From here on, I will touch upon the content of "Mrs. Harris."
If you do not want to know the content, please skip this part.

The theme of "The Little Prince" is "What is essential is invisible to the eye."
The theme of "Mrs. Harris" is "I didn't buy a dress; I bought the experience of making a dress." -> Fits criterion 1.

Next, Mrs. Harris is a war widow working as a housekeeper in London.
It's a story from around 1960, so it's not a protagonist an elementary school student would choose. -> Fits criterion 2.

Finally, Mrs. Harris finds a Dior dress in her employer's closet, is moved by it, and decides to go to Paris to buy one.
It was made into a movie and was just being shown in Tokyo from the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023.
Furthermore, the Dior exhibition is currently being held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.
The reasons for recommending it now are all there. -> Fits criterion 3.

So, I decided to read "Mrs. Harris" over the New Year holidays.
There were parts that really resonated with me.
I prepared for the book club by mapping out the content of the book, focusing on the parts I wanted to introduce.

I also went to the Dior exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.
I wanted to buy the catalog and bring it as a reference book, but it was sold out, so I couldn't.
Thinking that another participant might also introduce "Mrs. Harris," I decided to go see the movie.
I figured that if I commented on the differences between the book and the movie, I would still have something to talk about even if there was overlap.
The movie shows the streets of Paris.

The spatial relationship between the flower markets and landmarks is more direct than in the book.
However, because a story written around 1960 was adapted into a film around 2020, some settings in the movie were different from the book.
Since I was born in an era closer to the book, I wasn't moved to tears by the movie.

The book club was unique and interesting.
Since the organizer was an elementary school student, a kindergartner also participated with their father.
The kindergartner introduced the French version of the "The Little Prince" picture book.
The illustrations were different from the Japanese version.
The participants were divided on which one they preferred.

The books recommended by other participants also had their own personalities and were very stimulating.
Luckily, "Mrs. Harris" did not overlap.
After the introduction of the books brought by the participants, there was also time for participants to answer questions based on the theme and interact, and I was surprised by the organizer's facilitation skills.
Such encounters that exceed expectations are the real thrill of a book club.

I highly recommend it.

If a book club is held in Okuma Town, I would like to participate.

The pencil in the photo is black. There were also black-pink and black-gray ones.
I thought about giving them to the elementary school student, so I also bought the pink and gray ones.
I'm a little curious about what happened to them now.
Since it's a pencil, I hope it doesn't get broken.