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 +

Fanfan

by Marie Sellier and Iris Fossier

Fanfan is different. He's not an ostrich like his parents... He's an elephant! But he doesn’t know what an elephant is. He goes to explore the savannah and discover. When he finally meets with animals of his kind, they are offended at his simple question: "Are you an elephant?". Fanfan is a tale about family and identity. A funny and limpid text illustrated by the glittering world of Fossier in brown, gold and ultramarine.
48 pages in a landscape format, 23 x 32,5 cm, 4 years +
Rights sold: Portuguese (Brazil)

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+

The Great Legend of Rama and Sita

by Patrice Favaro, ill. Véronique Joffre
The trusty brother of Rama, absolute symbol of loyalty, tells the adventure of the King-to-be Rama and his beloved wife Sita. Full of courage and virtue, they will have to face injustice, spite and the demons of the world to recover the throne that they deserved. A major text from the Indian culture, stunning illustrations made of paper collage, gold ink: this large format picture book widely opens the doors of the world, have a great journey!
40 pages, 35,5 x 28,5 cm, 6 years +
Rights sold: Portuguese (Brazil)

Monsieur Seguin's Last Kid Goat

by Alphonse Daudet, ill. by Jean-Luc Buquet
How lovely she is Monsieur Seguin’s kid goat. Lovely and in love with freedom… She doesn’t want to live tied up. She wants to gambol in the mountain, to her liking. But in the mountain, there’s the big bad wolf. Daudet’s most famous text is also one of his most delightful. The encounter of two beings who have a real love for freedom and discovery, but are bound to be enemies on their common ground. As cruel as a true fairy tale, the moral of this story tells children about the happiness of freedom and the dangers of its excesses.
48 pages, 27.5 x 30 cm, 5 years +

The little white buffalo

by Fabienne Thiéry, ill. Judith Gueyfier
On a mountain in a remote Chinese province, a small white buffalo is born into Li's all-black herd. "What a wonderful omen", says the old wise man of Stork's Peak. But the next day Li becomes deaf, and his son later loses sight. When war begins neither is called upon to fight...
40 pages, 25.5 x 25.5 cm, 4 years +

Nyéba's journey

by Yves Pinguilly, ill. by Nathalie Novi
Nyéba's mother is vey ill. The Marabout gives strict instructions: Nyéba must collect leaves, flowers and fruit from a jujube tree to save her mother. She undertakes a long journey across river and desert, meeting an old elephant and an evil genie along the way, but this little girl's bravery can make miracles happen.
40 pages, 25.5 x 25.5 cm, 4 years +

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)

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 +

Tales from China

by Fabienne Thiéry and Catherine Gendrin, ill. Vanessa Hié
In 18 tales, children will encounter 18 different faces of this fascinating, age-old civilization. Through these stories, they will meet an untameable dragon, a monkey collector and an emperor who trains crickets, all part of a fabulous journey full of laughter and tears, dreams and amazement - plus a few seeds of wisdom snatched from the shadow of the Great Wall.
144 pages, 18 x 25 cm, 8 years +