Raymond is playing

by Anne Crausaz
For more great moments along with bright and colourful snails, here is a game based on the lovely graphics of Anne Crausaz. The matching pairs game Raymond is playing is a game of memory and observation. 22 pairs of snails dreamt by Raymond have to match. Put all the cards face down, return them two at a time: if they are the same, you win and can try another pair. If they are different, turn them back again while trying to remember where they were. It's your turn...
44 cards, one box, 16 x 9,5 x 7 cm, 4 years +

Raymond is dreaming

by Anne Crausaz
Raymond is a snail, Lucette and Germain's son. Raymond is a dreamer: he imagines himself as a strawberry, a slug, a centipede and even a giraffe. But all things considered, Raymond is happy to be a snail... A great moment in the company of bright and colourful snails, with lovely graphic creative work. Raymond is also the base of matching pairs game "Raymond is playing", a bestselling duet at éditions MeMo.
Sorcières Award 2009
48 pages, 20 x 20 cm, 2 years +
Rights sold: Simplified Chinese, Korean

When the cat's away

by John Crombrie and Sheila Bourne
This book is about a group of mice battling with a lazy and humdrum cat. While they are waiting for Tomcat to go out, the mice have to occupy themselves. A hilarious suspense! The book was originally published in English by Kickshaws in 1980, this is a brand new edition, for the first time in French.
48 pages, 19,5 x 22 cm, 4 years +
Rights sold: Korean

OOOO!

by Gay Wegerif
Watch out! Special loads: along the pages, a delivery man transports a fountain in a trailer, trees in a lorry, a bird's cage in a car... but why then? To build an extraordinary garden! Created like a child's play, the story introduces one at a time each element of the garden together with the related sound, and finally gathers the whole in the final set. A simple and delightful little book with a bright and colourful design.
32 pages, 17 x 23 cm, 2 years +
Rights sold: Korean

Nouk who flew away

by Alain Serres, ill. by Nathalie Novi
Living in a white landscape, Nouk dreams of hunting seals, but his father says he is too small to go. So Nouk runs away, tracking caribou, hares and geese in the snow. He wants to fly free as a bird so much that he finally becomes one - but is then hunted by his own father.
40 pages, 25.5 x 25.5 cm, 4 years +
Rights sold: Chinese (Taiwan)

I, Ming

by Clotilde Bernos, ill. by Nathalie Novi
"I, Ming, could have been Queen of England... A charming and powerful bull... Emperor of the world with a Babel tower on my head... But, no, I am Ming, and nobody else. I live in China near lake Kuokonor. I wear a straw hat and loose trousers..."
This story tells us simply the happiness of a grandfather walking one morning with Nam, his granddaughter. It gives us the opportunity to think altogether, adult and child, about the fascinating window of our societies: power, money or celebrity.
40 pages, 25.5 x 25.5 cm, 4 years +
Rights sold: Chinese (Taiwan), Greek, Portuguese (Portugal), Spanish (world)

Martin of the hummingbirds

by Alain Serres, ill. by Judith Gueyfier
At the beginning of the 19th century, young Martin boards on a ship for Brazil. In the magical Brazilian forest, guided by a botanist, he discovers wonderful little hummingbirds. He also meets little Elléa, who sings just like the birds and hunts them for a merchant who buys their multicoloured feathers. This story is based on the true, passionate adventures of René-Primevère Lesson, who created books about his expeditions. Illustrator Judith Gueyfier based her delicate work on his original hand-engravings. This book offers a magnificent invitation to travel, draw and observe the natural wonders around us.
52 pages, 3 types of paper, 28 x 35 cm, 7 years +

My blue house

by Alain Serres, ill. by Edmée Cannard
This large-format picture book links the immensity of the universe to the small world of a child. Designed as a journey on earth as well as a plunge into the world of feelings, this book relates man's most marvellous treasure - the Earth. It describes the beauty and wonder of our planet, as well as the reassuring places that allow children to grow up peacefully and discover to the world. Edmée Cannard's illustrations blossom in large two-page spreads that depict the variety of the continents and the wealth of nature.
40 pages, 28 x 35 cm, 4 years +
Rights sold: Italian, Spanish (world), Portuguese (Brazil)

by Malika Doray
A succession of dialogues: the red jumper? No, the green dress. Bedtime? No, I want to stay up. Very upset? No, I want a kiss... all the minor conflicts and the major plans of a toddler collected in a few pages. A book in all ways, based on the immense pleasure of saying NO! A simple "system" book, with half pages inserted between two full pages.
36 pages, 15 x 21 cm, 18 months +

Mitsu, a perfect day

by Mélanie Rutten
Normally, Mitsu likes mornings. But on that day, she gets up in a bad mood! As her daily life becomes unbearable, Mitsu decides to venture out. On her trip, she experiences a unique encounter that will change the way she sees things in her life. The day after, nothing has changed... yet everything is different. The day after is a perfect day!
64 pages, 16,5 x 23 cm, 6 years +
Rights sold: German

Lucy

by Olivier Douzou
When spring comes, Bruno the beekeeper bear takes his hives out. And everyday, all the bees fly away to gather nectar from flowers. But Lucy, the smallest bee, only comes out at night... What is she up to? Lucy likes to wander around and play truant. She gathers nectar in the stars and makes the most unusual type of honey, moon honey.
36 pages, 17 x 22 cm, 2 years +

The big question

by Wolf Erlbruch
The book poses the biggest question of them all: Why am I here? A chorus of voices all have their own answer: a pilot says we're here to kiss the stars; a bird says we're here to sing our song; the number three thinks we're here to count to three. It encourages young ones to consider the question themselves, and to learn nothing is certain except that each of us will pose the question differently and hear different answers. A final answer to the big question comes from a mother holding her baby: "you are here because I love you". All that belongs to the world of the child's imagination finds meaning through pages bursting with Erlbruch's elegant, affective illustrations.
Bologna Ragazzi Award 2004
Prix Sorcière 2005
52 pages, 17,5 x 30 cm, 3 years +
Rights sold: Catalan, Chinese (Mainland China and Taiwan), Dutch, English (North America), German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal and Brazil) and Spanish (world).

Hansel and Gretel

ill. by Susanne Janssen
The story is famous: the famine, the poor woodcutter, the children abandoned in the forest, the path of small pebbles, the witch pushed in her own oven... As many of Grimm brothers' tales, this is not a witty little piece: the cruel stepmother has a morbid influence on her spineless husband who agrees on the infanticide. The whining girl, feudalized by her ingenious brother, will show herself capable of killing to save him.
After an anthological Peter Pan at Editions Être, Susanne Janssen's powerful images renew and disturb the representations linked to Grimm's tale: birds are strange baroque machines, the witch fascinates more than she repels, etc.
An elegant and unprecedended picture book.
Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 2008
Barreiro Illustrate Prize 2007
Rights sold: German and Korean
64 pages, 21,5 x 34 cm, 5 years +

I will be the eyes of the earth

Photographs by Altitude, text by Alain Serres, illustrations by Zaü.

Foreword by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Using a mix of aerial photographies, drawings and texts, three artists instill in children and their parents the desire to protect this moving jewel - our planet. This book is an absolute must-read on sustainable development.
An illustrator and an author use their talent and sensitivity to respond to images by renowned photographers from Altitude, famed French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand's arial photo agency. The book not only reveals the beauty of our Earth, but also subty introduces 100 words that describe major global issues, such as deforestation, global warming, waste, solidarity, and fair trade.
Rights sold: German, Greek, Korean and Spanish (Spain)
112 pages, 34 x 24 cm, 7 years +

The ogre

by Karim Ressouni-Demigneux, ill. by Thierry Dedieu
The children on a large housing estate are afraid of the Ogre - a huge, scary creature holding shiny objects who only ventures out at night. They throw stones at his door and spy on him, but all they see is his dark shadow and shapeless form. One day, however, the Ogre fails ill, and it is then that the children find out that he is an artist. This is a tale with multiple meanings, capable of delivering both a shiver and emotion.
Mention at the Bologna Ragazzi Awards 2008
36 pages, 23,5 x 33,5 cm, 5 years +

The nose

by Olivier Douzou
A very funny epic story, freely inspired from a novel by Gogol. It all starts with: "Since we all have a blocked nose, the only thing to do is find a big hanky". The book is about the quest by a nose gang to find a "big hanky" or is it a "big hunky"? Confusion, sudden turn of events, this is a story to read with a blocked nose or a "blocked dose"!
2006 Baobab Award at Montreuil Book Fair.
60 pages, 16 x 21 cm, 5 years +
Rights sold: Dutch, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil)

This is where I grew up

by Anne Crausaz
A small seed has accidentally fallen on the ground. In autumn, the leaves form a blanket that keeps the seed warm through the winter. In spring, the seed slowly germinates and starts growing. But elements and animals harass the shoot. It resists bravely and keeps on growing until it turns into a beautiful fruit tree, an apple tree which, in turn, will provide seeds... One of Anne Crausaz's familar themes: the cycle of seaons, in bright colours that made her previous book "Raymond is dreaming" a bestseller!
48 pages, 18 x 22 cm, 3 years +
Rights sold: Korean, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Spanish (Mexico).