France
(French)
115
Besnier, Michel (text)
Galeron, Henri (illus.)
Mon Kdi® n’est pas un Kdo (My shopping trolley is not a toy)
Urville-Nacqueville: Møtus, 2008. – 69 p.
(Pommes pirates papillons)
ISBN 978-2-907354-91-2
Supermarket – Shopping
A can containing »Mon Kdi® n’est pas un Kdo« (»My shopping trolley is not a
toy«) and labelled with a sticker depicting a man pushing an overflowing
shopping trolley – the cover-image of this book hints cleverly at its
content: thirty poems and illustrations that »spin« the mundane supermarket
experience in a humourous and artistic way. »The supermarket can offer
surprises and magic to make grocery shopping less irritating,« the author
states. And so out of banal processes and circumstances – like the path to
the check-out, or the gigantic assortment of cosmetic products that promise
fantastic results – aphoristic, punning and onomatopoeic verses are made,
which are interpreted by surreal, black and white illustrations.
(6+)
116
Bordage, Pierre
Ceux qui sauront (Those who will know)
Paris: Flammarion, 2008. – 344 p.
(Ukronie) (Roman Jeunesse )
ISBN 978-2-0812-1169-8
Two-class society – Reading – Education – Power
What would have happened had Jules Ferry not introduced obligatory schooling
in France in 1882? »Ukronie«, a new series that takes its cue from the young
adult novel »Ceux qui sauront«, is based on the idea of imagining a world
where some event or another of the past never occurred. In this case, the
population would remain ignorant without schooling. Knowledge and power are
reserved for the king’s court in Versailles. Jean, a boy of the people, and
Clara, whose family is in the king’s circle, belong to the few who dare to
fight against this state of affairs. This excitingly told story leads young
readers to see the necessity and the immense significance of education.
(12+)
117
Bouché, Pascale (text)
Pommaux, Yvan (illus.)
Véro en mai (Véro in May)
Paris: École des Loisirs, 2008. – 44 p.
ISBN 978-2-211-09171-8
France/1968 – Student protests – Strike – Revolts
The civil unrest, triggered by student protests in May of 1968, led to a
week-long general strike in Paris that crippled the entire country. This
book succeeds in making these revolts, which brought about long-term
cultural, political, and economic reforms in France, relevant to today’s
children by mixing non-fiction with the fictional, quintessential family
story of little Véro. The events of 1968 are situated within the time frame
of 1944, the end of the war in France, up to 1969, when Neil Armstrong
became the first man on the moon. What results is an informative and at the
same time entertaining history lesson for children. (7+)
118
Brami, Élisabeth (text)
Lopparelli, Philippe (photogr.)
Amoureux grave (Deeply in love)
Paris: Magnier, 2008. – 136 p.
(Photoroman)
ISBN 978-2-84420-630-5
Photo – Correspondence – Puzzle – Identity
A series of photographs reach an author who uses them as sources of
inspiration and connects them with the life of his hero. That is the idea
behind the series »Photoroman«
(Photo Novel). Techno-parties and the rave atmo-sphere are linked to the
story of Paul, a high school senior who experiences spiritual upset when he
receives a photograph in an email from an unknown sender. When Paul answers
with a poem, a fascinating exchange of image and text ensues, which throws
him into an identity crisis. Just as for the protagonist space and time seem
to come undone, the reader, too, is caught in the mysterious correspondence
whose puzzle is ultimately not solved.
(14+)
119
Causse, Rolande (text)
Rapaport, Gilles (illus.)
Ita-Rose <proper name>
[Paris]: Circonflexe, 2008. – [44] p.
(Aux couleurs du monde)
ISBN 978-2-87833-463-0
France – World War II – Persecution of the Jews – Concentration camp –
Barbie, Klaus – Criminal trial
Shortly after the invasion of Paris by German troops in 1940, the Polish
emigrant Ita-Rose and her husband
Jacob have their fifth child. Then begins the Jewish family’s path of
suffering, which after persecution, escape and
arrest temporarily ends in Villeurbanne. There, however, Jacob and three of
the children become victims of the now infamous SS leader Klaus Barbie,
known as the »butcher of Lyon«. The easy to understand, soberly composed
text of this documentary picture book and the dark, sketch-like
illustrations that look like stamps and are made using a mixture of
photographs, black brush strokes, as well as colour splotches and prints,
work to ensure that the life story of this Jewish woman, who fights at last
for Barbie’s verdict at age sixty-nine, touches the reader especially deeply.
(8+)
120
Chapoutot, Johann [et al.]
(text)
Badel, Ronan (illus.)
Europe. Mémoires profondes – Récits fondateurs des 27 États membres de
l’Union européenne aux XXe et XXIe siècles
(Europe. Profound insights – Founding reports from the 27 member nations of
the European Union in the 20th and 21st centuries]
Paris: Éd. Autrement, 2008. – 284 p.
(Autrement Jeunesse)
ISBN 978-2-7467-1170-9
Europe – European Union/History
Europe is often grasped only as an abstract and vague idea. This very
informative non-fiction book comes to the rescue. In the first part of the
book, facts and dates are represented based on nine historical events, which
led to the composition of the EU as it is today; the appendix offers entries
on the »founding fathers« and a detailed chronolo-gy. The main part presents
the current 27 member nations by means of two characteristics. These could
be historical and national particularities, for instance the Portuguese
Revolution of the Carnations of 1974 and the Spanish tourism boom, or
leading personalities like Charles de Gaulle and Imre Kertész. Nine excursus,
which explain European relations, as well as photos and attractive
illustrations round out this recommendable book.
(12+)
121
Chiche, Alain (text/illus.)
J’ai le droit (I have the right)
Paris: Éd. du Sorbier, 2008. – [44] p.
ISBN 978-2-7320-3901-5
Children’s rights
»I have the right«, is the first title of the series »C’est ma planète« (This
is my planet), in which the author and illus-trator fuses picture book and
non-fiction book in order to begin to interest young readers in important
social issues and sensitize them to current problems. He illustrates the
text using a mixture of drawing, painting, and photography, thereby creating
straightforwardly accessible, cheery and colourful pictures. Presented in
the first-person voice, children’s rights are pronounced that are globally
recog-nized since the coming into effect of Convention on the Rights of
Children in 1990 but unfortunately still often ignored. The abstract
wordings are brought home in this way and invite young readers to enter into
the discussion about their rights. (4+)
122
Darwiche, Jihad (text)
Shafiey, Farshid (illus.)
Poupée de sucre. Contes de Perse
(Sweetie pie.
Fairytales from Persia)
[Aubais]: Lirabelle, 2008. – [32] p.
ISBN 978-2-914216-84-5
Man-eater – Young woman – Ruse – Sweetie pie – Love – Fairytale
A man-eater absolutely loves eating marriageable young women. To accomplish
this he transforms himself into a good-looking young man and takes the
chosen one to his place. None of them ever returns, until a young woman,
with the help of a ruse, not only succeeds in surviving, but also in winning
the heart of the man-eater, whom she has grown fond of. The touching Persian
fairytale about the humanizing of a monster draws on material found in
innumerable narrative traditions from the Middle East.
In the »Story of Gilgamesh« and in »One Thousand and One Nights«, too, can
be found initiations into humanity through the strength and love of a
beautiful woman. Black-and-white as well as vibrant earth-tone illustrations
skilfully invoke the atmosphere and emotion of the East.
(5+)
123
Dautremer, Rébecca (text)
Leboeuf, Arthur (illus.)
Le loup de la 135e (The wolf from 135st Street)
Paris: Éd. du Seuil, 2008. – 35 p.
ISBN 978-2-02-096919-2
New York – City – Grandfather – Grandson – Friendship – Little Red Riding
Hood/Adaptation
What would be had Little Red Riding Hood lived in 1950s New York City?
Perhaps the allusion to the fairy-tale is not apparent on first reading.
With his old friend Chili Vince, the narrator recalls how they met: wearing
his red clothes, he went to bring his grandfather, who lived
at the other end of the urban jungle, a package and ran into the cool older
gang leader Chili Vince, named the »Wolf«. Vince weaseled the grandfather’s
address out of the boy and got there before him... This book presents the
story of a friendship with nostalgia and humour, along-side magical
realistic pictures of Manhattan, Harlem, and Brooklyn, which the reader
roams through as on a stroll.
(5+)
124
Doray, Malika (text/illus.)
Non (No)
[Nantes]: Éd.
MeMo, 2008. – [32] p.
ISBN 978-2-35289-032-4
Self-awareness – Saying no
It’s a question-and-answer game: The red pullover? No, the green dress.
Carry? No, walk. A book? No, my book... This book for toddlers copes with
the little conflicts that often form the greatest worries and distresses in
the everyday life of very young children. Half pages, inserted in between
two sturdy pages, connect the ques-tion with the answer. While the black
contoured, vividly coloured illustrations reach horizontally across the
double page, the short texts are vertically arranged and some-times
upside-down. In this way, the picture book becomes a toy that can be turned
and rotated, read from front to back and from top to bottom. Recognizing
oneself and the delight of saying no especially make up the charm
of this book.
(2+)
125
Guéraud, Guillaume (text)
Alemagna, Beatrice (illus.)
Oméga et l’ourse (Omega and the she-bear)
Paris: Panama, 2008. – [32] p.
ISBN 978-2-7557-0293-4
Girl – Bear – Fear – Prey – Affection
Inspired by Edvard Munch’s lithograph »Omega and the Bear«, Beatrice
Alemagna and Guillaume Guéraud work through the opposed feelings of fear and
love in an aesthetically powerful, large-format picture book. A giant
she-bear that has her home in the mountain forests causes the people and the
animals in the valley much fear and dismay. Not, however, the girl Omega.
She observes the she-bear and dreamily thinks of her. One day, Omega throws
herself into the soft arms of the wild animal, in order to explore the world
with her and encounter the spirits of the forest. Striking pictures in oil,
acrylic and pastel, embedded in collages, mirror the story arc of the text,
which juggles the contrasts of near and far, rough and soft, big and small,
dream and reality, and especially fear and unconditional love. The multiple
layers at which the text and pictures operate will draw in young children
and older ones, as well as adults. (5+)
126
Hammer, Béatrice
Kivousavé (You know who)
Rodez: Éd. du Rouergue, 2008. – 285 p.
(Do a do)
ISBN 978-2-8415-6915-1
Family – Daughter – Mother – Self-discovery
A mother who abandoned her when she was two; a grandmother, cold and
hate-filled, who harshly pursues this uncaring mother; a father who in the
absence of this grandmother walks taller and approaches his daughter in
ambiguous ways – that is the family life of the protagonist, who begins to
write to her unknown mother at age eleven. Over the course of seven years,
she describes her search for her past, her professional and private
upheav-als, and her first experiences with love. Even though she distances
herself from her father and her grandmother, she realizes that for her own
life it is necessary to understand the structures of her genetic family of
origin. The story of the protagonist constitutes an intense psychological
close-up view of the development of a young woman.
(15+)
127
Jacques, Benoît (text/illus.)
La nuit du visiteur (The night of the visitor)
Montigny-sur-Loing: Benôit Jacques, 2008. – 108 p.
ISBN 978-2-916683-09-6
Little Red Riding Hood <parody> – Grandmother – Night – Visitor – Wolf –
Identity
Exhausted, grandmother waits on tardy Little Red Riding Hood. Someone knocks
at the door. »Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up«, grandmother calls
out – or so it goes in Charles Perrault’s well-loved fable. Here, how-ever,
she seems to be hard of hearing. Neither creativity and deceptive skill nor
an increasingly loud, false voice – which, inventively rhymed, the
typography makes nearly audible – can help the wolf. Dark black-and-white
two-page spreads, which show the nocturnal visitor outside the door,
alternate with brighter red, white and black two-page spreads that depict
the grandmother. The illustrations, made using linoleum cut and ink, are
reduced and at the same time powerful. The sumptuous composition of the book
lends the reader a tactile delight in addition. (4+)
128
Rimbaud, Arthur (text)
Causse, Rolande (ed.)
Lemoine, Georges (illus.)
Les poings dans mes poches crevées. Choix de poèmes (My hands in my torn
coat pockets. Anthology of poems)
[Paris] : Gallimard Jeunesse, 2008. – 127 p.
(Collection Folio junior; 1483)
ISBN 978-2-07-061503-2
Rimbaud, Arthur – Life – Poetry
»I went off with my hands in my torn coat pockets.« An anthology in five
parts introduces young readers to the French poet Arthur Rimbaud
(1854-1891). In »Chansons« (Songs), short, rhythmic philosophical poems are
presented; »Poésies« (Poetry) radiates the magic of tremendous childhood
visions.
While in »Une saison en
enfer« (A season in hell) and »Illuminations« (Illumina-tions), excerpts
from Rimbaud’s two known works can be found, in the final chapter, »Une vie
comme un roman« (A life like a novel), the life and work of the poète maudit
(ostracized poet) are described. The metaphorical, dream-like drawings made
with ink, watercolour, and pastel engage with lines of Rimbaud’s poetry and
prose or take
up motifs from his life, thus perfectly rounding out the poetry volume.
(9+)
129
Serres, Alain (text)
Heitz, Bruno (illus.)
Comment apprendre à ses parents à aimer les livres pour enfants (How to
teach one’s parents to like children’s books)
[Voisins-le-Bretonneux]: Rue du Monde, 2008. – [32] p.
(Kouak!)
ISBN 978-2-35504-043-6
Parents – Child – Children’s book – Reading
The first picture book from the series »Kouak!« turns the tables: those
normally teaching become the taught. Here kids tell their parents how great
reading children’s books can be, by dissolving the possible reservations and
presuppositions of the adults. They explain to them that even their teacher
gets shiny eyes when reading aloud. And a picture that shows an animal with
a turd on its head is certainly less harmful than the fact that in real life
a homeless person has to sleep next to a garbage bin. In the end, parents
can also profit from children’s books, because even they can understand a
poem accompanied by a
pretty illustration! The humorous texts as well as the inventive
illustrations make a plea for reading appreciatively to young and old.
(5+)
130
Turquin, Magali
Innocent (Innocent)
Clichy: Éd. du Jasmin, 2008. – 63 p.
(Collection Roman Jeunesse; 9)
ISBN 978-2-912080-96-7
Rwanda – Hutu – Tutsi – Genocide – Survival
»Running. I am running away from the past that pursues me. I am running
since 1994. I was a child then. Tutsi. In Rwanda everyone was running.« With
straightforward, concrete language the protagonist describes the brutal
events that he was forced to experience as a thirteen-year-old boy during
the Rwandan genocide. The fast, breathless narrative rhythm mirrors his
persecution and desperation: the fleeing of his family from the Hutus to a
forested hill near his home city Nyamata; the murder of his family, and his
chance survival. The story, embedded in a well-researched historical
context, also pitilessly considers the liability of the church and the
international community. In this way, the book inspires young readers to
ponder large questions. (12+)