The Hotel Balzaar
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Narrated by:
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Allan Corduner
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By:
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Kate DiCamillo
About this listen
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, The Hotel Balzaar masterfully juggles yearning and belief, shining light into every dark corner.
©2024 Kate DiCamillo (P)2024 Listening LibraryListeners also enjoyed...
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Performance
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From two-time Newbery medalist Lois Lowry comes this warm and resonant story of an unlikely friendship, which unfolds as a revelation on how we hold on to—and pass on—what matters most.
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The idea that empathy can be felt across ages
- By Anne W. on 11-25-24
By: Lois Lowry
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The Beatryce Prophecy
- By: Kate DiCamillo
- Narrated by: Finty Williams
- Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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And so it is that a girl with a head full of stories - powerful tales-within-the-tale of queens and kings, mermaids and wolves - ventures into a dark wood in search of the castle of one who wishes her dead. With its timeless themes, unforgettable cast, and magical medieval setting, Kate DiCamillo’s lyrical tale is one for all ages.
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Masterful storytelling
- By tgcatmr on 10-01-21
By: Kate DiCamillo
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The Bletchley Riddle
- By: Ruta Sepetys, Steve Sheinkin
- Narrated by: Louis Hill, Georgina Jane, Ruta Sepetys, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Summer, 1940. Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister Lizzie share a love of riddles and puzzles. And now they’re living inside of one. The quarrelsome siblings find themselves amidst one of the greatest secrets of World War II—Britain’s eccentric codebreaking factory at Bletchley Park. As Jakob joins Bletchley’s top minds to crack the Nazi's Enigma cipher, fourteen-year-old Lizzie embarks on a mission to solve the mysterious disappearance of their mother.
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A Great Novel that Keeps Your Interest from Start to Finish
- By Tymeshia Casey on 10-29-24
By: Ruta Sepetys, and others
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The Tiger Rising
- By: Kate DiCamillo
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 2 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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From the best-selling author of Because of Winn-Dixie comes the moving story of an 11-year-old boy, Rob Horton, who finds a caged tiger in the woods behind the hotel where he lives with his father. With the help of his new friend, Sistine Bailey, Rob must decide what to do with his discovery and at the same time come to terms with his past.
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amazing
- By Anonymous User on 08-29-09
By: Kate DiCamillo
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The Fairy Tale Fan Club
- Legendary Letters Collected by C.C. Cecily
- By: Richard Ayoade, David Roberts - illustrator
- Narrated by: Richard Ayoade, Lydia Fox, Wes Anderson
- Length: 1 hr and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In this series of letters organized by C. C. Cecily, Senior Secretary of the Fairy Tale Fan Club, the fairest of them all (and a few bitter foes) correspond with curious—and opinionated—fans. So if you’ve ever wondered how a less-than-genius (and less-than-clothed) emperor fell for a certain con, how the Big Bad Wolf is handling meatless Mondays, or whether Rapunzel recommends going for the big chop, no need to look far, far away.
By: Richard Ayoade, and others
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Flora and Ulysses
- The Illuminated Adventures
- By: Kate DiCamillo
- Narrated by: Tara Sands
- Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Holy unanticipated occurrences! It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry - and that Flora will be changed too.
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Hard to listen to...
- By Amazon Customer on 02-20-20
By: Kate DiCamillo
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The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
- By: Kate DiCamillo
- Narrated by: Judith Ivey
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Kate DiCamillo takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage heap to the fireside of a hoboes' camp, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis. And along the way, we are shown a true miracle, that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.
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Stunning, Healing
- By Chris on 07-21-06
By: Kate DiCamillo
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The Door of No Return
- The Door of No Return, Book 1
- By: Kwame Alexander
- Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
- Length: 3 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Eleven-year-old Kofi Offin has dreams of water, of its urgent whisper that beckons with promises and secrets. He has heard the call on the banks of Upper Kwanta, West Africa, where he lives. He loves these things above all else: his family, the fireside tales of his father’s father, a girl named Ama, and, of course, swimming. But when the unthinkable – a sudden death – occurs during a festival between rival villages, Kofi ends up in a fight for his life. What happens next will send him on a harrowing journey across land and sea, and away from everything he loves.
By: Kwame Alexander
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Jasmine Is Haunted
- By: Mark Oshiro
- Narrated by: Vico Ortiz
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Jasmine Garza has a problem: a ghost has been following her for years, ever since her Papi died. Not that Mami will admit anything supernatural is going on. But even the ghost she won’t acknowledge makes real trouble, so Jasmine and her mami are moving (again) to a new apartment in East Hollywood. This time Jasmine is committed to living a normal life with normal friends. Enter: Bea Veracruz and Jorge Barrera. They’re the only two members of Jasmine's middle school's Gay Straight Alliance and they’re already obsessed with all things supernatural.
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Jasmine is awesome!
- By Marlynn D. Baldo on 10-18-24
By: Mark Oshiro
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The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents
- By: Nicki Pau Preto
- Narrated by: Emily Marso
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Lavinia “Vin” Lucas is out of control and out of options. Stranded by parents who would rather use their average magical abilities to study dung beetles than raise her, Vin's been on her own for years. But she’s never been able to corral her own powerful, unpredictable magic. After years of detention, suspension, and expulsion from magic schools far and wide, she’s now being sent to the Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents. If she gets expelled, it’s the end of the line. Now, Vin is determined to behave. Except no one at Last Hope seems to want her to.
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A great story
- By danielle on 11-19-24
By: Nicki Pau Preto
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The Mercy Watson Collection
- #1: Mercy Watson to the Rescue; #2: Mercy Watson Goes For a Ride
- By: Kate DiCamillo
- Narrated by: Ron McLarty
- Length: 40 mins
- Unabridged
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To Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Mercy is not just a pig, she's a porcine wonder. And to the portly and good-natured Mercy, the Watsons are an excellent source of buttered toast, not to mention that buttery-toasty feeling she gets when she snuggles into bed with them. This is not, however, so good for the Watsons' bed. BOOM! CRACK! Welcome to the wry and endearing world of Mercy Watson.
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A Porcine Wonder
- By Sid on 03-30-11
By: Kate DiCamillo
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The Princess in Black, Books 1-3
- The Princess in Black; The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party; The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde
- By: Shannon Hale, Dean Hale
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 55 mins
- Unabridged
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The Princess in Black: Princess Magnolia is having hot chocolate and scones with Duchess Wigtower when...Brring! Brring! The monster alarm! Stopping monsters is no job for prim and perfect Princess Magnolia. But luckily Princess Magnolia has a secret: She’s also the Princess in Black! Can Princess Magnolia sneak away, transform into her alter ego, and defeat the monster before the nosy duchess discovers her secret?
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Great Story but Lousy Narration
- By BookBagLady on 06-12-17
By: Shannon Hale, and others
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The Tale of Despereaux
- Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread
- By: Kate DiCamillo
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 3 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in darkness but covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl with a simple, impossible wish. These characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and ultimately, into each other's lives.
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Not for grown-ups
- By Ellen Spertus on 03-26-04
By: Kate DiCamillo
What listeners say about The Hotel Balzaar
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Vickie
- 11-26-24
A Gentle, Magical Tale
If you are in need of a sweet respite for your soul, may I recommend the two books in Kate DiCamillo’s Norendy Tales? Both books, “The Puppets of Spelhorst” and “The Hotel Balzaar,” are gentle, magical tales about the power of story, the endurance of love, and the strength of hope. Ms. DiCamillo is a treasure whose works never fail to engage and enchant her readers—no matter their age—and the audiobook narration is absolutely captivating. (The books would also make wonderful gifts for young ones in your life.)
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