France
107
Alemagna, Beatrice (text/illus.)
Un lion à Paris (A lion in Paris)
Paris : Éd. Autrement, 2006. – [36] p.
(Jeunesse)
ISBN 2-7467-0816-7
Lion – Paris – City – Loneliness – Strangeness
When
a lion feels utterly bored in the savannah, he sets off in search for work,
love, and a better future. Once he arrives in the city of Paris, he is
astonished that his roaring does not seem to frighten the people in the
underground or the cafés. Strolling around, he sadly realises that not even
an unusual creature like him attracts any attention. Luckily enough, the
lion’s perception is changed when a girl at the Louvre Museum looks at him
caringly, and finally the city opens »all its windows« to him. Applying a
variety of different techniques and materials in imaginative ways, such as
photo-collages, the illustrator draws an affectionate and nostalgic portrait
of the French capital, reminiscent of the charming atmosphere of old postcards
and travel diaries. (5+)
108
Chérer, Sophie
Parle tout bas, si c’est d’amour (Speak quietly when it’s about love)
Paris : École des Loisirs, 2006. – 151 p.
(Médium)
ISBN 2-211-08358-7
Youth – Love – Sexuality – Sex education
Shy
Olivier finally manages to win the heart of Caroline. Yet, what do
16-year-olds feel when adults start talking non-stop about love and sex
education; when the biology teacher shows them how to use a condom; when an
87-year-old woman offers detailed sexual advice; or when a mother takes her
daughter to her first true love’s funeral? Caroline and Olivier have to
learn from their own experiences. They have to brave the fear that their love
may not be strong enough but can draw strength from their hope in mutual trust
and faithfulness. This novel sensitively deals with love and relationships and
the experiences gained by and exchanged across different generations.
(14+)
109
Cohen-Scali, Sarah K.
Disparus : roman (Disappeared)
Paris : Grasset, 2006. – 313 p.
ISBN 2-246-69721-2
(Grasset-Jeunesse : Roman Grand Format)
Theft – Suitcase – Mortal danger – Search
Vincent
specialises in stealing luggage from early morning commuter trains. On the
very day, however, that he finally decides that this will be his last raid,
that he will stop hanging around in train stations and accept a job as waiter
in a pizzeria, he nicks the suitcase of a young woman who is obviously in
mortal danger. The 20-year-old protagonist immediately feels the need to save
this mysterious woman. With the help of his neighbour and an author of
detective novels, he follows her trace and accidentally gets involved in the
filming of a horror movie. Various misleading tracks and the blurred border
between delusion and reality in this mixture between whodunit and fantasy
novel keep the readers in growing suspense until the very end. (13+)
110
Combet, Claude / Levèvre, Thierry (text)
Le Huche, Magali (illus.)
Destination Paris (Destination Paris)
Arles : Actes Sud Junior, 2006. – 105 p.
ISBN 2-7427-5922-0
Paris – City guide – History
This
attractive city guide invites children on informative and entertaining walks
through the city of Paris, divided into five differently coloured chapters.
Starting with an overview of the historical development from the Roman city
Lutetia to the present, which explains the city’s geographical snail-shape,
the book goes on to answer questions about urban development and takes a
closer look at children’s everyday life in Paris, a multicultural metropolis
inhabited by people from 150 nations. The last chapter focuses on Paris as a
centre for artists and the arts. A quiz, a bibliography, and a map round off
this handy introduction to the French capital. (8+)
111
Cuenca, Catherine
Frères de guerre (Brothers-in-arms)
Paris : Castor Poche Flammarion, 2006. – 217 p.
(Castor poche; 1025: Voyage au temps de ...)
ISBN 2-08-163394-9
World War I – Friendship – Death – Daily routine
In
August 1914, Germany declares war on France. Although Eugène and his friend
Matthias are only 16, they want to fight at the front. Using forged papers,
they manage to get drafted into the French army. Once at the battle scene,
they are soon separated, and each boy experiences the horrors in the trenches
on his own. The first-person narrator does not only talk about the cruel war
events but also about his personal experiences, his patriotic enthusiasm that
is soon depleted by the bloody dealings on the front line, his fear of dying,
and his grief for the dead comrades. The story is easily accessible for
today’s readers. Taking one young man as an example, the book shows the
inner struggles that such dramatic experiences can trigger off. (12+) <>
112
Dedieu, Thierry
Attatruc 1er (Attathing 1st) <proper name / wordplay>
[Paris] : Seuil Jeunesse, 2006. – [34] p.
ISBN 2-02-088801-7
Dictator – Art – Artist – Freedom of opinion
Moronic
king Attatruc terrorises his subjects. Despite his complete lack of talent, he
dreams of becoming a great artist. He buys the most famous paintings and
re-works them, for example, by adding the »missing« second ear to Van
Gogh’s self-portrait or by »correctly« placing the nose in Picasso’s
painting between the two eyes. After a while, he becomes so irate about his
own inability that he burns all the artwork and incarcerates the artists.
Eventually, however, art triumphs, and the mad king plunges to his death. In
this large-format picture book, the monarch is presented in a stylised way as
a grotesque, small, fat, large-headed, ugly gnome draped in martial regalia.
The bold black brush strokes aptly express the dictator’s perversity and
aggressiveness. (8+)
113
Douzou, Olivier (text/illus.)
Le nez (The nose)
[Nantes] : Éd. MeMo, 2006. – [60] p.
ISBN 2-910391-91-4
Nose – Cold – Pronunciation
It
all starts with a nose suffering from a cold: »Whem your mose is rumming, you
meeb to fimb a bib anky.« Therefore, the little nose hits the road. Several
other noses join it, such as a prehistoric nose, a clown’s nose, an
elephant’s trunk, and a pig’s snout. The quest for the »big handkerchief«
that will bring the blocked noses some relief turns into a confusing and
surprising adventure for the weird nosy bunch. Accompanied by caricaturing
black-and-red illustrations, the picture book’s play with language and
pronunciation provides readers with a humorous challenge. As sometimes the
words are not recognisable until they are actually pronounced, the book
naturally lends itself to reading aloud (with or without cold). (6+)
114
Dumortier, David (text)
Mellinette, Martine (illus.)
Mehdi met du rouge à lèvres (Mehdi paints her lips red)
Chambon-sur-Lignon : Cheyne, 2006. – 43 p.
(Poèmes pour grandir)
ISBN 2-84116-110-2
Sexual identity – Otherness – Tolerance –Search for identity – Self-confidence
Mehdi
dresses like a girl, paints his lips red, and in-stead of being crazy about
football, he adores a singer whose songs make people cry. Again and again, the
boy is forced to justify his behaviour and fight against intolerance and
conformism around him, for example when his neighbour slates his dream job of
selling candy as »unfit for a boy!« Eventually, Mehdi gets sick of »hiding
his ideas in a tube, a bottle, or a jewel box and revealing only tiny bits of
them«. The imaginative illustrations and the unconventional layout of the
book underline the author’s plea to all people to be brave enough to express
their otherness, which makes life a lot richer. (9+)
115
Fombelle, Timothée de (text)
Place, François (illus.)
La vie suspendue (The suspended life)
[Paris] : Gallimard Jeunesse, 2006. – 311 p.
(Tobie Lolness; 1)
ISBN 2-07-057181-5
Oak tree – People – Nature – Threat – Adventure
»Tobie
was only one-and-a-half millimetres in size, not exactly tall for his age.«
The 13-year-old protagonist’s people live in a huge oak tree and keep
beetles as food. The more influential the families are, the higher up in the
tree they live, with the lower social classes dwelling in the branches close
to the ground. Ever since Tobie’s father has refused to hand over one of his
inventions for fear that it might threaten their lives in the tree once it
gets into the wrong hands, Tobie is being pursued. When his parents are
arrested and the boy believes them to be dead, he climbs down into the lower
branches and escapes. This novel about the tree-creatures’ fantastic world
and the young boy’s adventures is written in a humorous and gripping style
with unusual depth. (12+)
116
Gendrin, Catherine (text)
Corvaisier, Laurent (illus.)
Voici comment sont nées les histoires (That’s how stories are born)
[Voisins-le-Bretonneux]
: Rue du Monde,
2006. – [32] p.
ISBN 978-2-915569-58-2
Genesis – God –Love – Death
God
wants to create life. He carries out experiments with clay and fills the earth
with what he deems beautiful. He places the very dark human couple on the
African continent while the couple who has not been in the oven long enough is
set down in Europe. When there is no space left on earth, he creates »concepts«
such as »love«, which suddenly leads to the birth of too many creatures;
followed by »death« as a counterbalance; and »stories« to help children
fall asleep. In colourful pictures, this large-format book offers readers a
fairytale-like, profound, and tongue-in-cheek version of the creation of the
world and of the constant metamorphosis of immortal stories that are passed on
from one generation to the next. (6+)
Special Mention
117
Guéraud, Guillaume
Je mourrai pas gibier (I won’t let myself be killed like game)
Rodez : Éd. du Rouergue, 2006. – 75 p.
(DoAdo Noir)
ISBN 2-84156-717-6
Teenager – Murderer – Wedding – Village – Enmity – Running amok – Violence
Five
people are killed, two fatally wounded, and one slightly injured when teenager
Martial fires 18 shots at his brother’s wedding guests. This is the
beginning of the young first-person narrator’s story, which is told in
retrospect after the blood-bath. Martial’s home village Mortagne is divided
into two opposing camps and ruled by social coldness and stupidity ex-pressed
through violence and cruelty. Martial tries to escape from this place, but it
is difficult to leave the legacy of his birthplace behind. Unable to express
his anger with words, he too resorts to violence. The precise, relentless, and
down-to-earth style of this novel immediately sucks the readers into the
oppres-sing atmosphere. The novel is easy to read, easy to understand, but
difficult to digest. It is not so much the bloodshed that the story focuses on
but rather the motives behind it. The way in which these motives are analysed
and presented, show the author’s great narrative skill. (14+)
118
Guilloppé, Antoine (text/illus.)
Akiko la rêveuse : petit conte zen (Akiko the dreamer : a short Zen tale)
Arles : Picquier Jeunesse, 2006. – [28] p.
ISBN 2-87730-867-7
Girl – Dream – Grandmother –Youth – Old age – Death
One
night, Akiko dreams that she meets her grandmother at the lakefront. The
following day, the curious girl sets off towards the lake to »meet« her
dream again. Eventually, she finds her grandmother and speaks to her for the
last time. This Zen tale about a dreamy little girl deals with important
topics such as the circle of life, absence and loss, and life and death. The
clear black ink drawings are complemented by the greens and blues of nature.
By using Japanese paper as material for the butterflies and the characters’
clothes, the illustrator easily captures the Japanese atmosphere. Although
both text and pictures have a touch of lightness, they stand out for their
impressive profundity that inspires readers to stop and think about it.
(7+)
119
Joanniez, Sébastien
Treizième avenir (The thirteenth future)
Paris : Éd. Sarbacane, 2006. – 103 p.
(Romans Sarbacane : Exprim’)
ISBN 978-2-84865-139-2
Teenager – Suburb – Parents –Identity – First love
What
the first-person narrator of this novel desperately needs is a change. He
really wants to escape his life in the suburbs, his parents’ conservative,
racist conversations, his neighbours’ small-mindedness, and his friends’
paralysing boredom. Yet, where and how can he find a new home and a worthwhile
future? In the end, all his reflections lead to Justine, his first love, with
whom he has his first romantic and sexual experiences. This novel about a
teenager’s search for identity resembles a long poem without punctuation
marks. Its quick and easily understandable language lures readers into reading
it through in one sitting. The relentless, colloquial, quasi-spoken text
follows in the tradition of slam poetry. (14+)
120
Lestrade, Agnès de (text)
Boillat, Joanna (illus.)
La marchande de vent (The wind merchant)
Urville-Nacqueville : Møtus, 2006. – [28] p.
ISBN 978-2-9073-5471-4
Wind – Sea – Wish
Young
Alizée is a saleswoman at the kite beach. She sells wind in bags or cans.
Each of her customers has a special request: Fisherman Oreste needs north wind
for his work; Jean, the poet, prefers slow, warm south wind for his words of
love to travel from one village to the next; Gertrude wishes for east wind
that shakes the apples from the tree; and a little boy longs for the quick
west wind that helps him win the kite competition. And what does Alizée dream
about? A surprise the wind carries for her promising love and happiness. The
fluttering hair and clothes of the protagonists and the lightness of the
illustrations’ pastel colours underline the effect of the poetical text.
(5+)
121
Perroud, Benoît
Ombroglios (Shadowjumble)
Le-Puy-en Velay : Atelier du Poisson Soluble, 2006. – [68] p.
ISBN 2-913741-39-8
Fox – Shadow – Malice – Chasing
A
fox goes for a walk, when suddenly his own shadow comes alive and trips him
up. And that’s only the start. The shadow plays tricks on him and tries his
best to drive the poor fox mad. Once, he taps him on his back and boxes his
ears, another time, he chases him until the panic-stricken victim crashes
headfirst into a wall. The mischievous shadow even takes the shape of a
beautiful vixen and tries to seduce the fox only to vanish into thin air the
next minute. Yet, he who laughs last, laughs longest. The arrangement of the
pictures as well as the sketchy presentation of the fox in this humorous,
textless tale are inspired by comic-strips and flip books. (4+)
122
Saint-Dizier, Marie (text)
Ishii, Atsuko (illus.)
Le rire : raconté aux petits curieux (Laughter: explained to inquisitive little ones)
[Paris] : Syros, 2006. – [58] p.
(Les Albums documentaires)
ISBN 2-7485-0449-6
Laughter – Humour
Why
do people laugh? Do we laugh in the same way today that people did a thousand
years ago? What do the French, the Spanish, or the English laugh about? Using
an abundance of examples as well as scientific and literary evidence, such as
Charles Darwin’s description of his son’s development of laughter or Molière’s
theatre plays that parody people’s behaviour and thus make the audience
laugh, this non-fiction picture book provides a philosophical reflection on
this everyday phenomenon. The book also tackles various types of laughter, for
example the laughter with or at somebody, plus culturally and environmentally
specific traits of laughter. The informative text is accompanied by delicately
drawn illustrations. (9+)
123
Sara (illus.)
Éléphants (Elephants)
[Paris] : Magnier, 2006. – [28] p.
ISBN 2-84420-449-x
Elephant calf – Threat – Fear – Rescue – Parents
A
little elephant is wandering through the woods alone, when suddenly a pack of
wolves emerges among the trees. Luckily enough, his parents immediately come
to his rescue. In this simple story with few protagonists and a reduced
setting, the text is completely replaced by the play with colours and
perspectives, which unfolds in the pictures. Thus, the red colour of the
wolves roam-ing through the blue-green forest creates a threaten-ing
atmosphere while the gleaming white elephants’ tusks seem like the proper
instruments of punishment. Sara uses torn-paper-technique to create her
characteristic illustrations. The coarse-grained Chinese wrapping paper chosen
for the elephants in this book perfectly mirrors the pachyderms’ equanimity
and calm. (3+)
124
Silloray, Olivier
La marmite du diable (The devil’s cauldron)
Paris : Bayard Jeunesse, 2006. – 179 p.
(Millé Zime)
ISBN 2-7470-1747-8
Son – Father – Speleology – Death – First love
It’s not enough that Nicolas’s father has just died of cancer; to make matters worse, there are now some calumnious rumours about an extraordinary prehistoric cave, the whereabouts of which his father refused to share until his death. Some even say that he created the cave paintings there himself. Driven by the urge to rehabilitate his father, the boy sets off in search of the cave. On the one hand, this gripping novel serves as an introduction to the secrets of speleology; on the other hand, it offers a stunning psychological portrait of a teenager whose research about his father helps him find his own identity and his first love. (13+)