Ma super famille

Comment:

Unlike his friend Camille’s, six-year-old Timothée’s family doesn’t fit in a single photograph or drawing. To tell the reader about his family, he needs the flaps that unfold out of the book. From his father’s new spouse to his aunt’s adoptive kids, his twin uncles who are younger than him, and his bisexual granny, Timothée charmingly explains and draws his family with a kind word for everyone in it. Camille regularly steps in with his own comments – maybe he’s a bit jealous of such a big family! The book does not shy away from tricky subjects where children are often left in the dark, like family fall-outs and secrets. But with his infectious grin, Timothée seems to have found his place in this vast blended family. And when he can’t draw a plain family tree, he comes up with the idea of a forest. A beautiful metaphor for a thoughful lift-the-flap book that does feature a lot of unusual situations but that has the potential to answer many children’s questions. Magali Le Huche’s very simple, easy, modern drawings are wholly suited to the book: welcome to the 21st century family, publisher Père Castor! [Source: Sophie Pilaire, Ricochet]