by Karen Rowan

This is the third novel in the Fluency Fast series for beginners. It uses a vocabulary of approximately 440 words to tell a 5800-word story. It is repetitive and simple and includes numerous cognates to make the book comprehensible to beginning adults and children.

Carl is a 9-year-old boy and he is not happy. His mother wants to live in France. Carl does not want to go to France. The idea is absurd! He doesn't speak a single word of French. When he arrives, he doesn't like French food. He doesn't have any friends. He is desperately unhappy. But when he finds starving, stray dogs in the side streets in Paris, he discovers that he is not the only one who is miserable. Will Carl get to the dogs in time or is it already too late?

Carl est un garçon de neuf ans et il n'est pas heureux. Sa mére voudrait vivre en France. Carl ne veut pas aller en France. L'idée est absurde ! Il ne parle pas un seul mot en français. Quand il arrive, il n'aime pas la cuisine française. Il n'a pas d'ami. Il est désespérément malheureux. Mais quand il trouve des chiens affamés et abandonnés dans les rues de Paris, il découvre qu'il n'est pas le seul que soit malheureux ? Paris. Est-ce que Carl va trouver les chiens à temps ou est-ce qu'il est déjà trop tard ?