The publishing house Écosociété, specializing in ecology and essays, buys the youth editions of Isatis, has learned The duty. “I have been an activist for a long time,” recalled Angèle Delaunois, who founded Isatis 20 years ago. It was essential for me to find a publishing house for this legacy that has the same colors, the same values as me and Isatis,” she explains.
By integrating Isatis’ catalog of 230 children’s titles, Écosociété wants to broaden its readership. “We’ve wanted to talk to young people for a while,” explained the head of sales and artistic direction, Élodie Comtois. A desire that has become more intense since she and Kevin Cordeau, production manager, each became parents.
“We have this desire to talk to young people about the climate emergency,” continues M.me Comtois. It is a political desire: to help this generation, which is experiencing climate change and its powerful effects, to think and reflect on the situation. »
We have this desire to talk to young people about the climate emergency. It is a political desire: to help this generation, which is experiencing climate change and its powerful effects, to think and reflect on the situation.
Isatis is already swimming in these waters. As evidence The village in the searecent album by Félix Girard, where Philibert must find how to protect his house from the sea which rises more and more year after year.
“With titles like Pollution plastic (Andrée Poulin, 2021), THE breast weight (Nathalie Lagacé, 2021), Operation Eat-Guardians (Yves Dumontet Joan Sénéchal, 2023) on food waste, Isatis is not afraid to tackle difficult and political subjects, mentions Écosociété.
These illustrations that change everything
For Écosociété, founded in 1992, the purchase involves “learning this new profession of children’s publishing”. The director of Isatis will accompany them for two years to pass on her knowledge. “They’re not new to publishing,” she says, with a smile in her voice.
It is true that being anchored to illustrations, the heart of children’s books, leads to a different way of working than in publishing for adults, and a different way of thinking about the book, everyone admits Mmy Comtois and Delaunois.
“The youth album is a complete object,” continues the editor of Isatis. With each book, you have to ask yourself what model you favor, how you put the text in place so that it is harmonious, what is the right format, and above all, above all, she emphasizes, who is the right illustrator for this text, precisely.
This learning will take place slowly for Écosociété, which has already started by taking up comics a few years ago (Mégantic. A train in the night, 2021). But how can we add eight books per season, sixteen per year, to the production rate?
“All that is something to think about,” replies Élodie Comtois. How we adapt human resources, we will build it with Angèle. » Isatis, a small structure, only relied on self-employed workers, “even me, who is a conductor”, recalls Mme Delaunois.
The 2024 program will remain that of Angèle Delaunois, and even a good part of that of 2025. “We work well in advance, in the youth edition. We have to give time to the illustrators, who work between six months and a year on a book. »
Écosociété will maintain printing in Quebec. Remember that Angèle Delaunois has set up, with the Transcontinental printing companies, a group of publishers which allows around fifteen of them to print their hardback albums, in pre-established formats, in color in Quebec, rather than in China , for not much more.