A coveted meal
Scattered around a well-set table, ten dogs eagerly eye ten tempting sausages. But when one of them upsets everything and rushes to get his teeth into the string of charcuterie, the nine others get involved in their turn. What follows is a game of chase to determine who of the ten will get their teeth into the loot. Emily Gravett has the art of propelling her readers into animal worlds that swarm and frog, where everything is upside down. After 10 catspublished in 2022, it offers, with 10 dogs, a story that invites children to count, to count down, to search the image which responds to and extends the scope of the short text. The illustrations on a white background highlight the canines with their expressive eyes, constantly on the move, moving the air and everything in their path with obvious pleasure. The point of view is most often at dog’s height, which adds to the interest of the story and casually invites the reader to take part in the action.
Marie Fradette
10 dogs
★★★★
Emily Gravett, translated from English by Claire Billaud, Kaléidoscope, Paris, 2023, 32 pages. From 3 years to 6 years.
Russian mountains
“This morning Archibald got up early, because […] Sam and Natacha are arriving later. It’s a long time to wait for your friends. But that has nothing to do with boredom. Archibald likes this wait a lot. It’s like a promise. » Happy, he “feels like sunshine inside”. But, very often, happiness and fulfillment are far from being disrupted, replaced by a “hurricane that devastates everything”. In After the rain, a brand new title in the “Archibald” series, Astrid Desbordes highlights the roller coaster of emotions which, like weather as unpredictable as it is necessary, punctuate the course of the days. In short sentences, embroidered with a few poetic turns of phrase, the author sets up with acuity and sensitivity an identifiable universe, frank and sincere child characters and enveloping adults. Pauline Martin ensures a visual that is as refined as ever, decorations adorned with a few everyday objects which, in addition to ensuring great readability, create a comforting climate.
Marie Fradette
After the rain
★★★★
Astrid Desbordes and Pauline Martin, Albin Michel Jeunesse, Paris, 2023, 40 pages. From 3 years.
Waiting for the 25th
The Montreal Canadiens have not won a Stanley Cup since 1993 and Gabriel Anctil, with The King of Hockey, intends to remind us of this last crowning. Through its narrator and protagonist, Théo, we relive this famous day of June 9, 1993, through a game of street hockey or from the front rows of the Forum. The pace is frenzied and draws us into a frenzy where the stakes, although high, are a game: “It’s like at school during recess, but with adults instead of children. » Realistic, the proposal narrates in detail the highlights of the match, a choice supported by the illustrations of Josée Tellier, which commemorate this historic moment. However, this gripping story lacks finesse, neglecting the development of its characters, to which is added a sick brother, whose presence gives the impression that the illness has been exploited. A few sloppy dialogues also distort the tone of a writing that is nevertheless versed in kindness. A good throw which nevertheless misses its target.
Yannick Marcoux
The King of Hockey
★★ 1/2
Text by Gabriel Anctil and illustrations by Josée Tellier, Station T “Jeunesse”, Montreal, 2023, 48 pages. Starting from 7 years old.
From the pit to the cemetery
Is it possible to persist in the light when you spend your days digging underground? This is the challenge taken up by Charbon bleu, a short novel by Anne Loyer which invites us to meet Ermine, a young girl whose destiny is irremediably disrupted by the death of her father. Forced to abandon her studies to contribute to the meager family income, she joins her older brother in the mine, where a life of labor awaits her. However, it is there that she meets Firmin, a young boy “with dreamy features, a singing voice, a complexion too pale under the dust mask, with azure eyes [qui] slices into the landscape.” Fueled by raw and tormented feelings, Blue Charcoal irises misery in an unexpected way, fueling hope. In a rich and colorful language, carried by ample sentences with immersive descriptions, this striking foray into the mining world of the 19th century is supported by the engravings of Gérard DuBois, contrasted and imbued with the shuttered imagination of these landscapes of a another century.
Yannick Marcoux
Blue charcoal
★★★ 1/2
Text by Anne Loyer and illustrations by Gérard DuBois, D’eux, Sherbrooke, 2023, 132 pages. From 12 years old.