Stand
“So you refused to bow down to the King. What do you have to say in your defense?” I was listening to the bird. […] — Listen to the bird… the judge murmurs mockingly. Then, in a loud voice, he shouts the sentence: — Let this man be locked up for life in the prison of the High Tower. Hunt all the birds and lock them up too. ” Taking up some codes of the tale, with its despots inscribed in a dynamic of good and evil, Christian Merveille highlights a story of freedom and courage in a prose that flirts with the refrain, subtly using poetic formulas. The man who listened to the bird sing tells the story of humanity in all its beauty and horror, a story in which all the tyranny of the leader contrasts with this man’s thirst for life. Valeria Docampo, for her part, provides a striking visual complement, revealing paintings of this sharp universe alternating between the quiet strength of the hero, his lightness similar to that of the bird and the rigidity of power. An ode to the importance of standing tall.
Marie Fradette
The man who listened to the bird sing
★★★★
Christian Merveille and Valeria Docampo, Alice, Braine-l’Alleud, 2024, 40 pages. Ages 6 and up.
Invitation to travel
From the thylacine, the aurochs or the dodo to the woolly mammoth, all extinct from our world, passing by a few chimeras such as the unicorn, the Âmmout or the serpopanther, Carnet lointain is full of real and invented creatures that have marked the imagination. In fact, in what is above all an invitation to travel, Isabelle Simler takes readers into “dream landscapes, forests of lost giants, on the edge of erased marshes”, with an uncommon grace. A notebook of sketches, drawings, alternating between sketches and detailed paintings, in which the artist offers scenes of luxuriant nature where different astonishing species are offered to the discerning eye. The album, in its Italian format, also extends the scope of the drawing, shows the richness of this art, while allowing the reader to grasp its contours and magic. Finally, few texts gravitate around the illustrations, a few words that define the beast and inscribe it in the history of humanity. A fabulous title that restores the nobility of children’s literature.
Marie Fradette
Distant notebook
★★★★
Isabelle Simler, Éditions Courtes et longues, Paris, 2024, 96 pages. Ages 5 and up.
The brand new day
A multi-award-winning author, publisher and literature professor, Maude Nepveu-Villeneuve is at the heart of literary life. It is precisely in a plot that beats to the rhythm of words that her most recent novel, Le dernier mot, is set. We meet Héloïse, put on alert by the announcement of the closure, at the end of the year, of the student newspaper in which she participates. Supported by Reina, her great friend, and Mathys, her secret flame, she undertakes many steps to save the newspaper. But her daily life deviates from its orbit again when a message, hidden in a book in the library, leads her to meet Clémence, who will shake up even her deepest beliefs. Well-crafted, the knots of this story invite us on side roads where the unexpected reveals itself to be a bearer of beauty, a driving force for action and palpitations. As a bonus, the author invites us to rub shoulders with the characters of masterpieces and to make them – why not? – imperfect but distinguished models.
Yannick Marcoux
The last word
★★★1/2
Maude Nepveu-Villeneuve, La Bagnole, Montreal, 2024, 232 pages. Ages 12 and up.
The flight of the choir
In Martine Arpin’s brand new album, Le chant de la grive, the young protagonist goes about his business, oblivious to the fact that his little talents, such as “imitating the song of the thrush to perfection,” interest no one. The problem, in truth, is that everything he does, everything he says, even what he doesn’t do or say, interests the great Jules. This peacock, a bully and a mocker, has taken a dislike to the narrator, “hovering above his head like a bird of prey.” The character has tried everything to free himself from it, in vain, until the day when, finally, solidarity has revealed itself to be “as bright as the constellations in the August sky.” We recognize all too well this situation that we would not want in this world, plotted here with economy and a good dose of emotions. A poignant demonstration of the arbitrary violence of intimidation, which capitulates to the powerful song of numbers. With a playful and iridescent stroke, Josée Bisaillon multiplies the portraits and creates a human army from which emanates an inspired and emancipatory force.
Yannick Marcoux
The song of the thrush
★★★1/2
Text by Martine Arpin illustrated by Josée Bisaillon, D’eux, Sherbrooke, 2024, 44 pages. Ages 4 and up.