What’s hiding behind the furniture in the living room? Dust, certainly, but still? You can find misplaced objects, fallen food crumbs, very busy insects… It is in this miniature world that the actresses Édith Cochrane and Isabelle Brouillette immerse us in their very first children’s book, behind my chair.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
Did Edith Cochrane dream of publishing a children’s book? No. Nor did Isabelle Brouillette think of revealing her passion for watercolour.
But then one evening, while preparing supper, the former co-host of TV kids began to imagine a child who invents stories from objects found behind the armchair in his living room. “The idea came to me very quickly. The whole structure appeared to me,” recalls Édith Cochrane.
She hastened to take notes: popcorn waiting for her friends to celebrate, ants about to leave on a trip, spiders visiting a booger museum…
All the little comic scenes found in behind my chair were recorded in a mini-notebook. “Besides, I still have that sheet. I would have to find her, ”intervenes Isabelle Brouillette.
Because Edith Cochrane did not stay alone for long in this project. “I took a picture of my notes. I sent it to Isabelle. I said to him, “Hey! I have an idea for a children’s book, would you like to do the drawings?’” To which she replied: “Put it clean. We’ll talk about it again, ”laughs the one with whom she played in the National Improv League for years.
Installed in the courtyard of Isabelle Brouillette, the two friends obviously have a lot of fun remembering the beginnings of this adventure. Even if one signs the texts and the other the images, they worked as a team to develop the imaginary world that unfolds behind the olive green armchair.
It was done with four hands. […] We fed each other a lot.
Isabelle Brouillette
A bit like this interview where Edith Cochrane ends Isabelle Brouillette’s sentences, and vice versa.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Laughter in interview
Born shortly before the pandemic, this project was “really life-saving” for the actresses. When everything was stopping professionally for them, imagining this album together on Zoom brought them joy. “It made us laugh a lot to create the characters and make them talk,” says Isabelle Brouillette.
Also for the pleasure of parents
Although the book is aimed primarily at children, the author and illustrator had “parents a lot in mind” during its creation. “We wanted to make them laugh. I also wanted to challenge them in the game. […] It was very important to me that the dialogue be phrased so that they felt they could interpret the characters,” explains Isabelle Brouillette.
When a child likes a book, you don’t read it twice. You read it a hundred times.
Edith Cochrane
The duo hope parents will enjoy reading behind my chair as often as young people want to listen to it.
A volume 2 in preparation
When the photographer arrives from The Press, Isabelle Brouillette offers to take her olive chair out into the alley for the photo shoot. The one on the cover? Yes, the piece of furniture that inspired the style and color of the armchair in history.
The actress admits to having been a little intimidated at the idea of drawing a children’s book, in particular because of the talent of Quebec illustrators. “I worked hard exploring colors and style,” she says. “She never stopped training,” reveals Édith Cochrane. “I took lessons,” confirms Isabelle Brouillette, detailing her background.
“My idea that popped, it took him a lot of hours of work,” jokes the author. “She put me in the juice”, approves her friend.
At the end of behind my chairwe guess that a sequel is in preparation. Under my bed will once again be a plunge into a child’s imagination and the way he looks at forgotten objects. The two books are “an invitation to take the time to dwell on the little things that surround us”, conclude the actresses.
behind my chair
Text by Edith Cochrane
Illustrations by Isabelle Brouillette
Editions La Bagnole
From 4 years old