October 1, 2019

The latest installment in the Little Laveau series is here, and it’s the best one yet.

The series is about Marie Laveau as a little girl and her adventures with the younger versions of historical New Orleans characters. Each book features her grandmother (Grams) and her best friend Squeeker, a toothless orphan alligator she raised from a hatchling. These books are really fun, but they all have a valuable life lesson to teach.

Little Laveau Series (River Road Press)

Erin Rovin

The first book, “A Magical Bedtime Story,” focuses on childhood anxiety and bad dreams. Little Laveau creates a Dream Jar to capture all worries and weaves a colorful tale on what happens to these worries when we let them go.

Children are encouraged to make their own Dream Jars at home and to use the dream journal located in the back of the book. Each book wraps up with one of Grams recipes that goes along with the story. This book features Grams’ Good Dream Tea Recipe.

Book two, “Bayou Beware!,” is a cautionary tale with a spin that we can all relate to. Little Laveau meets a young trumpet player named Little Luey. Against Grams warning, Little Laveau enters the dark woods to bring back her unruly animal friends (Rex and Zulu, her cats). 

While lost in the woods and almost out of hope, Little Laveau hears Little Luey playing her song on his trumpet. His notes become her magical map out of the dark woods and serves as a reminder that music has the power to lead us out of a dark place. This book also has a recipe for Grams Protection Perfume, which keeps away all things scary and is also a natural mosquito repellant.

Which brings me to the latest installment in the series, “A Pirate Adventure.” You guessed it, Little Laveau meets Little Lafitte. Little Lafitte is a small pirate with a big attitude. While their ship is being repaired the big pirate Lafitte and his son, Little Lafitte stops at Grams house. In true pirate fashion they make themselves at home and leave their manners somewhere at sea. 

Little Laveau learns a valuable lesson in dealing with bullies and difficult people. With a little kindness, Little Laveau gets Little Lafitte to open up and encourages him to just be himself. While Grams finds a way to encourage Big Lafitte to be more polite, too.

 All three of the books in the series are wonderfully illustrated and feature a cool colorful map by illustrator Katie Campbell. This is Katie’s third book in the series and is the most colorful and fun one yet, with lots of yellows, purples, oranges, and blues.

About the Author

Erin Rovin lives in New Orleans with her daughter, Story Laveau. Erin started as a New Orleans City Guide writer, interviewing locals on what makes New Orleans so special. This is Erin’s third book and all three have been illustrated by Katie.

About the Illustrator 

Katie Campbell is a graphic designer by day and a book illustrator by night. Katie is also a talented freelance artist.

Scott Campbell is publisher and founder of River Road Press, a local boutique publisher of local and regional authors.