Quick, a splash!
Halfway between the album and the comic strip, Sea ice cream alternates double pages of landscapes that make you dream (a beach without people, does that really exist?) and small boxes without too much text that skilfully break up the action (the sea that covers and uncovers the feet according to the waves). The action is simple, we follow the day of a little girl at the beach, from the arrival in the car with the view of the ocean to the splash in the water, until the sunset, passing by the ice bought from the truck. Simple but effective: when reading, you want to leave everything behind, take your bathing suit and head for the nearest sea.
“A sea ice cream”, by Camille Osscini and Julien Arnal. Glénat Youth, 32 p., €12.50. From 4 years old.
Freedom in the great outdoors
It’s late afternoon, the first day of vacation. Pierrot and his sister Lisa, having just arrived at their grandparents, get on their old bike, leave the village and head into the forest, their hearts pounding, excitement at its height. They are alone, their expedition has the taste of independence, of pre-adolescence, of summer when the rules of adults soften in the sun. As the golden pages approach dusk, the reader wonders: what are the two children looking forward to so impatiently? We won’t reveal everything here, only that their curiosity will eventually be satisfied. And that rare are the albums to communicate with such accuracy the feeling of freedom and pleasure that summer can provide.
“The Magic Hour”, by Jean-Philippe Arrou-Vignod and François Ravard. Gallimard Youth, 48 pages, €13.50. From 6 years old.
A night at the pool
It is a book that merges with a play, all in dialogue, respecting unity of time, action and place. The action takes place around the swimming pool of a holiday home: at nightfall, the children are called in by their grandfather. Taking advantage of their absence, a crowd of animals enter the scene, splashing around in the water, having a drink, giving each other news of the family, discussing the charm of the new inhabitant of the village, putting on the music. It’s a real summer party, where you enjoy without thinking about the next day… until the morning, when the children wake up and disembark with their buoy, ready to jump into the pool. For once, it’s not the adults, the spoilsports!
“Rendezvous at the swimming pool”, by Jean-Baptiste Drouot. Helium, 56 pages, €14.90. From 4 years old.
You have 36.61% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.