Last Wednesday on my way to swimming lessons a wide grin spread across my face when I noticed the lights were on in the library. After 10 days of negotiations both sides have reached a deal. Phew! I wasn’t quite panicking as the strike rolled into day 10. Owlkids Books had generously sent me enough [...]
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Blog: B is for Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Munchkins: Ages Baby to 3, Thao Lam, Owlkids Books, All by myself!, Geraldine Collet, children's book, children's book reviews, Coralie Saudo, Add a tag
Blog: A Fuse #8 Production (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Uncategorized, picture book reviews, Coralie Saudo, bedtime books, Enchanted Lion Books, French picture books, subversive picture books, 2012 picture books, 2012 reviews, Best Books of 2012, translated picture books, Kris Di Giacomo, Add a tag
My Dad Is Big and Strong, But…: A Bedtime Story
By Coralie Saudo
Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
Translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick
Enchanted Lion Books
$16.95
ISBN: 978-1-59270-122-3
Ages 4-8
On shelves April 17, 2012
Few picture book titles come with qualifications. More often than not they are statements of strong purpose. I Can Do It Too or No, I Want Daddy. Declarative books with forthright ideas and messages for the preschool set. That’s all well and good, but sometimes you want a book that entices you to pick through its pages from the title onward. Now there is no doubt that My Dad Is Big and Strong, But… is a work of translation. From the minute you look at it it has all the signs. The drawings are fun and eclectic but they feel strangely . . . European, perhaps? And the art inside is a mix of mixed media photographs and graphite. Then there’s the story, which doesn’t end with that kooky twist we Americans almost require in books of this sort these days. Finally there’s that title that seems to float in mid-air without direction. Yes, there is no doubt left in your mind that this is a French translation, but there is also no doubt that it is one of the most charming and engaging picture books to hike down the pike in years. A story that upsets expectations but retains its heart, this is the perfect bedtime fare for any kiddo that rejects the very notion of going to sleep (and who has a sense of humor).
Our hero’s dad has many fine and outstanding qualities. He is big. He is strong. But he does have one significant flaw that’s hard to overlook. Every night it’s the same old story. When bedtime rolls around he just adamantly refuses to go. The only thing to do is to start out by reading him some stories. After two he’ll demand another but his son is having none of it. It’s straight to bed and a game of waiting until the dad’s asleep (if the son tries to go to bed early he’ll just have to contend with a wide awake dad barging into his room anyway). Finally he seems to be asleep but just as the son attempts to turn out the life he hears, “No, don’t do that! Leave the light on!” Because while his dad may be big and strong he’s also a bit afraid of the dark.
There’s an entire subgenre of picture books out there where expectations are upended to the delight of the child reader. I can think of four books off the top of my head where a character is scared about the first day of school and then turns out to be a teacher (Back to School Tortoise] by Lucy M. George was the latest). And Amy Krouse Rosenthal went to town with the idea in Little Pea (a pea refuses to eat his dinner of candy), Little Hoot (an owl wants to go to bed while his parents insist he stay up all night), and
Blog: Monday Artday (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: children illustration, coralie, coralie saudo, 1 character, sheep, children's book, Add a tag
It will be published in french at the end of the month and we are looking for a publisher for the english version.
http://be-mouton.blogspot.com/
And more children books projects here :
www.coraliecolorie.com
Blog: Monday Artday (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: camel, coralie, coralie saudo, Add a tag
For the World Water Day, here is an humoristic - ecologic illustration to sensibilize people to "share" the water.
I did it for a t-shirt contest last week. The theme was Marroco. If this illustration wins, it will be printed on t-shirt (fairtrade cotton).
If you like it, you can still vote for it during one week :
http://www.laspid.com/boutique/catalog/index.php?cPath=26
Last night I caught some of the CNN special "God's Warriors" with Christiane Amanpour. They had a segment on Battle Cry, the fundamentalist youth ministry I've blogged about here before. What struck me as I was listening to the teens interviewed was... Read the rest of this post
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very cute
This is very cute! Nice style alround!
congratulations for your fantastic works, Coralie! i hope you'll find a publisher soon (and also hope this book will publish in Hungary...)
congrats on the publishing!!