Stein & Toklas, a children's book

Is Hans Gallas' wonderful new book,with illustrations by the inimitable Tom Hachtman, a children's book or is it not?

Whatever it may be, it's a handsome thing and lotsa fun to read, the story of two American boys, whose aunt, a friend of Stein & Toklas, drops the boys off at Stein's Paris apartment, presumably the legendary 27 rue de Fleurus, at Thanksgiving to be looked after by the two women over the holiday. The boys are shown around Paris by the two women, and eat lavishly of Toklas' cuisine;one of the boys even puts a finger on a Picasso...

Hans says it's loosely based on a true story.

Julian Stein, Gertrude's cousin, gives the book a boost when he says, among other nice things, "Certainly Gertrude would have liked it."

The book is now available at amazon.com or at gertrudeandalice.com/fritzandtom.

It's hard to imagine that there would be a child or an adult immune to the charm of the book, though anything's possible.