FRANCEINFO JUNIOR BOOKS – “ABC of nature”, Bernadette Gervais / Full version of the interview
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L’ABC of nature , is both “classic” and wonderfully beautiful. Classic, because it does not derogate from its vocation of course: learning the letters of the alphabet. They are written in upper and lower case as they should, and each letter corresponds to several drawings. And over the pages of this alphabet book, we contemplate all the beauty of Mother Nature, or almost! Animals, insects, plants, fruits and vegetables, more or less “known” …
And then theABC of nature it is also this size XXL format. It allows you to take your time, to take a break from the magnificent details of the drawings, all made with a stencil and a sponge.
In this ABC there is … There are poetic bird names, like the J The Bohemian Waxwing.
For the letter N, beware here is a formidable caterpillar The Noctuelle.
For the M and for the P here are beautiful butterflies that are called Peacock of the day and Swallowtail.
And no, it’s not every day that we eat Pastries …
Nor that we meet A bronzed blackbird or a quokka that we don’t drink.
We see that for the letter Q, The Quinoa has put on a nice pinkish hue.
And that for the U there is even a fruit, The Ugli.
And for the final drawing, a kind of sun, surely there to complete our walk or to tell us that it will never end … And it is necessarily the Z With a Zinnia!
In this album, Bernadette Gervais shows all the beauty, the perfection that there is in nature. We contemplate it and learn there too. It’s a great reading moment to share, everyone can find something for themselves. There is an “inter-generation” dimension, or an idea of transmission in this album which is also a tribute to his father.
L’ABC of nature , a reading that also does a lot of good in these troubled times when we all need to breathe and escape … And above all, run to your bookseller, here is a very beautiful and great gift to put in all the little shoes !
Bernadette Gervais (C. Ribault Caillol / franceinfo junior Books / Radio France )
Belgian illustrator artist, passionate about drawing from kindergarten, it was as a teenager that she decided that she would later be an illustrator of children’s books. In 1992, she published her first albums with Francesco Pittau, with whom she formed a duo for many years. For some time now, she has been pursuing a work of author-illustrator alone. Vegetables , In 4 steps (Albin Michel), We exchange (Youth Threshold).
In total, therefore, she has published about 120 books. Very different books, books to unfold, pop-ups, images to discover by lifting flaps, opening windows. She uses painting and also sometimes engraving, cutouts and collages.
The series of Babar !
“Babar”, by L. de Brunhoff (EDITIONS HACHETTE JEUNESSE)
Still published by (Great People) …
“Picture book of the seasons”, by B. Gervais ((GREAT PEOPLE))
“Axinamu”, by B. Gervais ((GREAT PEOPLE))
On December 2, all the SLPJ Nuggets Prize .
Alongside the Golden Nugget awarded by a professional jury, there were also the deliberations of the youth juries concerning Teen Fiction, Junior Fiction, Comics and Illustrated Books, of which here are the winners:
Teen Fiction Nugget: I saw Sisyphus happy , Katerina Apostolopoulou (Bruno Doucey Editions).
Juniors Fiction Nugget: Carmine, volume 1, The boy with the hoof-foot , Amélie Sarn, (Youth Threshold)
BD nugget: Ama, the Breath of Women , by Franck Manguin, Cécile Becq, (Sarbacane).
Nugget Illustrated Book: Jurassic Caramel , by Roxane Lumeret (Trapèze-Albin Michel Jeunesse)
The first covers of the award-winning books for Les Pépites 2020 (Mailify / Bruno Doucey / Seuil Jeunesse / Albin Michel Jeunesse)
Find plenty of other reading ideas on the website kibookin . For all ages and for all tastes, there are no more excuses not to find your nugget to read, and especially to go back to bookstores!
Ideas to read on KIBOOKIN (KIBOOKIN / SLPJ)
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