A squirrel that no longer wants to be one, here is the start of I would have liked, a very recent album by the hilarious Olivier Tallec. True to his tongue-in-cheek humor, the author-illustrator portrays a completely crazy character, a little red squirrel who believes he can find happiness in someone else’s skin. Beaver, deer, hedgehog, owl, giraffe, emperor penguin, the possibilities are numerous, but rarely satisfactory. Varying the framing and perspectives, Tallec offers both expressive characters and flamboyant landscapes, in particular this autumnal forest on which the squirrel-deer gambols or even these immense blackberry plants above the hedgehog-squirrel. Thanks to a deceptively candid tone, to totally imperfect and assumed characters, Tallec has the art of transforming a rather banal plot into a most eccentric story. The fall, as improbable as it is earthy, makes sure to leave the reader completely dumbfounded. Famous.
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