Friday, May 15, 2009

L'horreur de la richesse

Yesterday I forsook the company 5 à 7 for a book launch.

The book is about a frog, and the launch was at my daughter's school. Robert Soulières unveiled Le prince des marais:

Un prince et une princesse vivent dans la richesse et l'opulence, ce qui rend le prince très malheureux. Il a horreur de la richesse, des banquets et des nombreux serviteurs qui l'entourent. Il ne désire qu'une chose : un baiser de sa princesse. Un jour, ne supportant plus ce chagrin, celle-ci cède à la prière du prince et redevient crapaud. La princesse, seule et triste comme jamais, est soudain frappée par une idée. Elle téléphone à sa vieille marraine, son amie, sa confidente. Elle seule peut comprendre et apaiser son tourment...


Helena's quite pleased to have her own copy and personally inscribed. She tells me she particularly likes this book for how the pictures lend themselves to her being able to tell her own stories, which speaks more to the value of the illustrations than the narrative, but... whatever.

The school annually has a semaine littéraire, celebrating books of all shapes and sizes. Helena led me by the hand and proudly showed off her own handiwork: four books (or was it even more?) of her own devising, design, and binding. The class together had produced a yoga instruction manual, which they distributed to all the school's students.

Book production: so simple, a 6-year-old can master it!

(Last year's open house.)

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