The little school of the imagination

by Alain Serres

This boxed set features 15 large-format illustrations and 30 tokens that serve as visual prompts to stimulate children’s imagination: children choose an image, take a token and then invent their own story! A mobile phone disturbs the hustle and bustle of a port, for example, where they are loading a baby elephant onto a cargo ship: What’s the story? What happens next? What adventures might occur? Can you invent a story that no one has ever written before? And if you can’t think of what happens next, you just take another token, and the story begins again.

28 x 35 cm box, 5 years +

The wolf that was always hungry

by Eric Battut

This wolf really has a voracious appetite. He devours everything, everywhere, all the time: wild boars, mountains, forests... And inevitably he gets fatter with every meal! Why not go on a diet? He hates the idea. What about medical help? He swallowed the doctor before he could even utter a word. Who can quell his incredible hunger pangs?

40 pages, 23 x 33 cm, 4 years +

Korczak, a true friend to children

by Philippe Meirieu, ill. Pef
Very few books are designed to help children think about their education. This book explores the career of Janusz Korczak, a doctor and gifted educator who was a tireless champion of children's rights throughout his life.
48 pages, 25 x 25 cm, 5 years +

Babak, the day your horse was born

by Alain Serres, ill. Vanessa Hié
The illustrations in this volume show each stage of a single painting that grows more complex with every page. As readers follow the “birth” of this work, they’re also invited to witness the birth of another wonder: the story’s phlegmatic hero, Babak, has a mare that is about to deliver a foal. Throughout the story, the villagers seek the ever-dreaming Babak but they’ll never find him – because he’s painting the picture!
32 pages, 28 x 35 cm, 5 years + 

That's what children are like

by Alain Serres, ill. Silvia Bonanni
What are children like? This highly imaginative collage book attempts to define what it means to be a child, both seriously and with humour. A strong text that can be read aloud, even claimed if necessary... so that everybody can hear! A continuation of Rue du monde's editorial line on children's rights. Because a child holds tomorrow's world in his hands...
40 pages, 23 x 33 cm, 4 years +

1,2,3 stars!

Counting nature
by Anne-Sophie Baumann, ill. by Anne-Lise Boutin
This unusual picture book invites children to explore the world of figures and big numbers: from zero for a worm's paws, to 10 pips hidden in an apple, to billions of stars... There are so many things to see, count and name! A simple and elegant book specially documented. The poetry of mathematics meets up with the delicacy of the natural world.
48 pages, 25 x 25 cm, 4 years +
Rights sold: Portuguese (Brazil)

The City

Book 2: The Battle of the outer limits
by Karim Ressouni-Demigneux
Polly is the narrator of this second volume. She lives on a tiny British island and The City is her dream: freedom! Under the pseudonym Liza, she meets with Arthur, JC and Harry. Together they explore this strange world. She is fascinated by it all – the immensity, the surveyors who map the city, the linguists who unpick words... But she also wonders about this mysterious man called the Planner and the memory robbers who kidnap shadows and march towards the City’s outer limits where fighting rages. Liza fearlessly confronts this violence. She trusts in friendship and the growing feeling of love inside her. But things can fall apart so quickly in The City.

240 pages,16 x 23 cm, 12 years +

Papagayo

The little library of tales from around the world

The giant from the land of ice

by Laurence Fugier, ill. Julia Chausson

A reindeer herder and his family settle near Lake Vuolvojavri, unaware that a cruel and stupid ogre lives on the other shore. When the ogre wants to marry the herder's daughter, her father plays a clever trick on him, dressing up a pine log as the bride. A tale and information on the Sami people.

48 pages, 14 x 22 cm, 5 years +

The monkey and the golden cob

by Claire Laurens, ill. Martine Bourre

A monkey finds a golden cob in the forest but it is stolen from him. In vain he seeks help from the fire, the river, the anteater, the jaguar. But it is the hunters from the village who help him, and the monkey thanks them by giving them some grains from his cob. And that was how, according to legend, the Nahua Indians began to grow maize. At the end of the book, information on the Nahua Indians.

48 pages, 14 x 22 cm, 5 years +

Papagayo

The little library of tales from around the world

The sultan's diamond

by Catherine Gendrin, ill Judith Gueyfier

The sultan wants to give his pregnant wife a gift once the baby is born. He asks the jeweller to drill a magnificent diamond. But the jeweller splits the stone in two! He is devastated, for the Sultan had threatened to kill him if he damaged the stone. But luckily, the next day, the Sultan's wife gave birth to twins...

48 pages, 14 x 22 cm, 5 years +

The grandmother who saved a whole kingdom

by Claire Laurens, ill Sandrine Thommen

A Lord gives orders that all the old people should be abandoned in the mountains. The young Shoji refuses to accept this fate for his beloved grandmother. Her life will be saved when she will be the only person able to solve three riddles. From then on in Japan, the elderly are cherished and respected for their experience and wisdom.

48 pages, 14 x 22 cm, 5 years +

Who's there ?

by Clotilde Perrin

Mum brings home a newborn baby and this is baby's first day with the family, the first bath, the first feed. The pages gradually unfold to create a 160 cm illustration depicting the whole of this first day. A book to share with the rest of the family, at the childminder's or at nursery school when a child becomes a big sister or brother!
24 pages, 17 x 17 cm (160 cm unfolded), 3 years +

Soups from around the world

by Alain Serres and Aurélia Fronty
Soup is universal – around the world, it is a symbol both of celebration and of day-to-day life. But it is always shared! Warming, heart-warming, soups bring people together. Hot, cold, savoury and sweet, this book gathers recipes from all over the world, listed by country. And the magic of Aurélia Fronty’s rich illustrations is a feast for the eyes.
Best Children Book – Gourmand Awards 2012. More than 7000 copies sold in France!
48 pages, 28 x 35 cm, 7 years +
Rights sold: Spanish (World)

Pop pop poem

by Alain Serres and Candice Hayat

Here is the first anthology of poems for the very young, through a spiral-bound board book, an original introduction to poetry. A short story about nature and familiar themes such as animals, the home etc. is linked to extracts from poems and short poetic texts by major authors. Hayat’s reassuring design and intense colors takes young child’s hand to initiate him to the different look the poet has about the world.

32 pages with cutouts in the pages, 24,5 x 24,5, 3 years +

Three little gifts

by Sandra Poirot Cherif
A touching and tender book on the feelings of children when parents are separating, and on what adults go through also. A picture book that seems to be the letter of a mother to her young daughter. The mum brings three small surprises to her little girl... the reader will discover them at the end of the book, hidden in a decorated envelope.
44 pages, 19.5 x 27 cm, 4 years +

The book of I

by Alain Serres, ill. Solenn Larnicol
"Take care of me, but leave me alone!" With a smile and mischievousness, many of the contradictions of the young child are mentioned. Fauna and flora illustrations entangled, this is the peculiar world of young illustrator Solenn Larnicol's first title. A very creative book which tells us about others as well as oneself.
32 pages, 23 x 33 cm, 3 years+

Martin of the boat-circus

by Alain Serres, ill. Judith Gueyfier
Inspired by a true story, the book tells the life of Martin an Elléa on board of a steamer transporting... a circus! They get acquainted with monkeys, horses and Mogul the elephant. Martin draws the program while Elléa is rehearsing for her act with hummingbirds. At dusk, fabulous performances are given in Brazilian Bays: acrobats, magicians, pirate tightrope walkers. But one day a fire starts on board...
48 pages, 28 x 35 cm, 7 years +

Birds have wings, children have books

by Alain Serres, ill. Lucile Placin
It's simple and witty. It sounds like a funny lesson to learn, when very small, and find links between things and people. The well-linked words take us through Rue du monde's slogan: Birds have wings, children have books... because this title is a playful tribute to the world of books!
36 pages, 17 x 17 cm, 3 years +

The City

Book 1: The White Light
By Karim Ressouni-Demigneux

Warning n°1: if you read this book, your suffering will be harsh, waiting for the next four books to come.

Warning n°2: In THE CITY, never talk about your life outside the game, otherwise the white light will weigh down on you.

Warning n°3: It's better not to miss any step of THE CITY, particularly the first one...

Age 12 and for all, 240 pages
A five-book series
Rights sold: Russian

Little Great Ones

Picasso, Chaplin and Prévert: three genius in art introduce this new series at Rue du monde. It plunges into the childhood of those who marked history. It reminds us that even great ones have been little and instils into children more desire to become grown-ups. From birth, through childhood each title tells the life of the character until he/she became famous. Photographs, reproduction of art, songs or poem will invite children to discover the work of this child who became an artist, a politician, a great figure of history. The text is lively and inviting for an easy but thorough reading, children will learn without noticing and identify to this child who became a great figure.
48 pages, 12 x 18,5 cm, 8 to 11 years old
Already published: Little Pablo will become Picasso, Little Charlie will become Chaplin, Little Jacques will become Prévert.

At the Same Time, on Earth...

by Clotilde Perrin
Can you imagine, like a giant around the globe, one could see everywhere at the same time! This is the proposal of Clotilde Perrin with this stunning cardboard book made of 24 flaps that unfold like a leporello and tale the shape of a large wheel: the 24 time zones. The "giant child" can look over and discover what is happening at the same time on earth: in Paris Benoît is drinking his hot chocolate in the morning, while in Vietnam, Kanka is having a little nap. On the Samoa Islands, Abby is cooking fish for dinner, and a baby is born in the middle of the night in Peru!
48 pages in a leporello format and in a cardboard box. Folded format 16 x 33 cm, 4-metre long unfolded. 3 years+
Rights sold: Korean

Nomads Tales

by Catherine Gendrin, ill. by several
These earthmen have movement as a style of life. Tuareg, Sioux, Mongol, Chukchi, Arab, Berber people, on horses, sleighs, caravans or camels: these processions of many different latitudes all have in common a strong oral tradition. Tales issued from the culture of nomadic people tell about the status of girls, family life, wisdom of these tribes that often had to fight to survive. But also laughing and laughing at, for the greatest pleasure of travelling readers!
144 pages, 18 x 25 cm, 8 years+