From the age of three months, the baby discovers the grasp and with it the joy of books, of the cardboard boxes that he can grab with his already skillful and determined handcuffs. Her sight and her gaze have also changed. She stops seeing the world in black and white, she begins to distinguish colors, she no longer smiles only at the angels but also at her parents or my matryoshka imagined by Anne Herbauts in one of these book-objects whose secret she has and that this time takes, oh joy!, the shape and curves of these Russian dolls full of surprises, with the name derived from Matriona, associated with a woman from the robust course with generous curves.
What’s in Anne Herbauts’ Triennial Prize for Children’s Literature? Cats, mice, mustaches, cookies, whatever you want, or sometimes a tree, the moon behind a cat with a gray stocking which is in turn behind a cloud, each discovery leads to another, according to the very principle of this toy traditional.
Based on the “hodgepodge” principle, the book invites the reader to open the top flap, the bottom flap, or both at the same time… to discover the text and everything in this matryoshka unlike any other. A book that unfolds, grows and constantly smiles at the little ones. This is one of the rare occasions when Anne Herbauts speaks to such young people and the artist once again manages to pour her self-confidence and her love of poetry into her.
Oh ! Colette
Imagine everything in black and white as for him, Oh ! Colette by Catherine Louis defines fruits and vegetables by name and color such as the red of strawberries, the green of peas, the orange of carrots or the red, again, of radishes. The child wisely learns the lesson until the discovery of some cherries at the foot of the fruit tree whose name and color do not matter as long as we can, like the girl playing, hang them from his ears.
pop green
Color again with Aurore Petit and this tiny cardboard, a must-have of the genre, which is dedicated to bright green, announcing from the first moment the arrival of a devilishly playful pop-up where a frog and a crocodile unfold with their mouths open. We will also discover the inside of a salad, an alien and other miracles of nature. So many secret gardens that babies will love to meet, cry and make gestures of support, while being careful not to impress them. Aurore Petit offers you here an album tailored to her, enough to apprehend the book without fear and feel at home there.
Published by Editions de La Martinière, pop green is part of a new series of illustrated books on relief colors aimed at an age group in search of materiality.
Josephine
then there is Josephine, an insatiable yellow giraffe in an eternal search for discoveries. So here she is, ready to move forward with her snout in the blue in a rain that doesn’t seem to bother her, her hooves in the green of fresh grass before coming across a strange fir tree behind which some new friends are hiding. With it, the clouds become buoys, the eddies of the water a source of well-being and the world a huge field of adventure, whether you look over the tops of the trees or bury yourself in the roots. Or how to defy appearances.
Knowing only summer, he dreams of autumn or winter but never forgets to be surprised, like babies, in this unexpected walk, delicate and humorous, tinged with a fluorescent note, a trend started by Kitty Crowther, like a freedom, a desire for tonicity in children’s books that are not diluted by that.
- ★★★ My Matryoshka | Anne Herbauts | album | Casterman, 24 pp., €11.90. From 3 years.
- ★★ Pop Green | little dawn | album | Youth La Martinière, 12 pp, 6.90. From 6 months.
- ★★ Ouch! Colette | catherine louis | album | Hong Fei, 20 pages, €9.90. From 6 months.
- ★★★ Josephine | Chloe Almeras | album | Youth threshold, 24 pp, €10.50. From 1 year.