In recent years, with the continuous enrichment of picture book and children's book products introduced in China, the understanding and love of French picture books by domestic readers are constantly rising, and more than one million best-selling French picture books and children's books have emerged on the market. What is the reason for the popularity of French picture books and children's books? The author has been engaged in publishing and translation work for more than ten years, combined with his own experience, to analyze this problem, in order to provide readers, Chinese children's picture book creators and editors with the idea of choosing picture books or creating picture books.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > children's perspective</h1>
A good picture book and children's book are not only liked by parents, but must be what children like. Good picture book creation is to stand in the position of children and complete the creation from the perspective of children. These include:
Be tolerant of your child's behavior. Children are natural adventurers, especially in early childhood, children are far more affected by the emotional brain than the rational brain, and every child has had large or small "out of line" behavior. If the painting instinct understands the child's motivation, captures the child's emotions, tolerates the child's behavior, and regards the child's spontaneous emotions and behaviors as a normal thing, the child will feel recognized and accepted in the picture book world, thus getting great psychological comfort. For example, in the picture book "Daddy's Song" (Benjamin Shaw, Dolphin Press), the baby bear runs away from home in order to chase a small bee, causing the bear father to search hard, accidentally break into the theater, and is forced to sing a song in the center of the stage in full view of everyone. The embarrassed bear father thought to himself: When you find the stinky boy, you must give him some color to see! However, when he finally found the baby bear and then came to the hive on the top floor of the theater where the baby bear found in search of the little bee, he gave the child a great appreciation. Just imagine, the child's "little naughty" to the father to create "big trouble", the father did not criticize the child's adventurous behavior, but for the child's unexpected discovery and praise him, thank him, let the child feel that he has helped the adult a lot, with the feeling of "I am amazing", which child does not like such an emotional experience?
Conforms to your child's language. Young children love the repetition of language, which is a fun word game for them and an effective way for them to learn language and accumulate vocabulary. In the "Camille" series "I Am a Plasterer" (by Jacques Duquenny, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House), the author uses repetitive language, and most of the text of the whole book is composed of "azimuth words + brushes" ("inside brush, outside brush, front brush, back brush, upper brush, bottom brush"... ）。 In the end, Camille finished cleaning the house and went to take a bath, and began a new round of "pre-washing, post-washing, up-washing- and down-washing...". Concise vocabulary, simple transformations, continuous repetition, picture book text is like a catchy nursery rhyme, full of rhyme, full of fun, children are naturally willing to read repeatedly.
Close to the child's life. Children are not miniature adults, and their world is very different from the adult world. Children's daily lifestyles deserve to be respected. This is perfectly reflected in the series of picture books Apollin's Little World (almaili Moderity, didier Durheisson, Haiyan Publishing House). Apollin is a little girl of about two years old who likes games that two-year-old girls generally like, such as home. She dressed, fed, and changed her little doll, solemnly rebuked the little doll when it was disobedient, and embraced the little doll tolerantly when it was depressed, giving it comfort, like a little adult. Picture books portray the psychology and behavior of children when they have played at home. This kind of family game may be familiar to children all over the world. The closer the picture book is to the child's life, the stronger the sense of substitution, so that the children feel more intimate to read, as if they are the protagonists in the book.
Respect your child's characteristics. Picture books have an entertainment function and an educational function. Many parents like to buy learning picture books for their children, hoping that children will acquire literacy, recognition, numeracy, calculation and other skills through reading. French learning picture books pay great attention to combining the characteristics of children's learning at the current stage, emphasizing that in playing middle school, trying to drive children to participate in the experience and inspire thinking in the process of practical exercise. Take the picture book "Dots and Dots" (by Elvie Durais, Dolphin Press) as an example, the book through clever conception and page design, with text to prompt children to operate, with the picture to present the results of the operation, the formation of close interaction between people and the book, step by step to lead children to discover the small surprises in the book, the initiative of learning and fun to return to the child. Reading the picture book "Dots and Dots" not only exercises the child's observation ability, spatial thinking and computing ability, but also adds to the fun of the game and attracts the child to read and read again.
A picture book that children are willing to read repeatedly is a good picture book.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="29" > bold imagination</h1>
Imagination is the source of creativity, and creativity is precisely the highest level of learning ability, but also a great driving force to promote the progress of human society. It is of undeniable importance to nurture and protect children's imaginations. French picture books pay special attention to the cultivation of children's imagination, and the process of picture book creation is also the process of creators' imagination and imagination. As Jacques Duqueno, author of the million-dollar best-selling picture book "Camille", said in the preface to "Writing for Chinese Children": "Whenever I want to write a story, Camille always leads me to write the way she likes!" "Common ways in which picture book creators use their imaginations are:
Break the everyday. Extend on everyday behaviors or phenomena that children are familiar with and break through inherent limitations. For example, in the volume "Camille as a Teacher" (by Jacques Duquini, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House), Camille leads the children to draw - this is a familiar daily behavior of children, and the little people under the brush actually come alive, jumping off the drawing paper, accompanying the children to listen to stories, play games, do sports, and hold music concerts! It's a great feeling to have a playmate that you've created yourself! After the children finished school, the little people obediently returned to their respective drawing papers and waited for the next day to arrive. The author uses a rich imagination to turn the ordinary campus into a magical world, so that the children have more expectations for schooling.
Humor inverts. When children read picture books, they will speculate on the direction of the storyline based on their own life experience and logical reasoning. However, with the aim of enhancing children's imagination, the author will deliberately turn the pen sharply and surprise the plot setting, so that children can understand the magical effect of the reversal while laughing. For example, in the "Camille" series "Oops! Big fish bite the hook! (jacques Dukuni, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House) In one volume, Camille's three little babies have caught fish, but Only Camille has found nothing, but has also been dragged into the water by a big fish, soaking wet and embarrassed. The children grilled the fish they caught and invited Camille to share it. Camille held a fishing rod in her hand and shook her head in refusal. Young readers will think that Camille is still fishing persistently because she is not convinced. But as soon as the picture turned, he saw a wet shoe at the end of his fishing rod, just above the fire. It turned out that Camille wasn't fishing, but roasting shoes! Reading this, young readers tend to laugh heartily. The humorous reversal is also a means of expression for imagination to jump out.
Clever combination. Cleverly combining things that children know well but are unlikely to appear in the same situation into the same picture book story is also a good way to stimulate children's imagination. For example, in the "Camille" series "This is the Himalayas" (by Jacques Dukunni, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House), Camille risked her life and went through countless hardships to finally climb the Himalayas. After reaching the summit, she vowed never to climb the Himalayas again – life mattered! However, in the process of descending the mountain, Camille accidentally experienced the thrill of quickly sliding down from a high place, so she threw her previous vows out of the cloud of nine clouds, and just arrived at the foot of the mountain and excitedly announced "climb again", and the naughty boy's attitude jumped on the paper! "Mountains" and "slides" are both familiar things for children, but they rarely appear in the same situation. The picture book author finds inspiration from the "invigorating pleasure" and skillfully combines "mountain" and "slide", which not only opens up the story situation, but also opens up the imagination space of the child.
Go with the flow. Every child has a sense of innocence in his heart, full of reverence for life, and good intentions for life. If the author can conform to this innocence in the creation of picture books and promote the wishes of children, he can also create a different imagination space. In the book "Camille Listening to Whales Sing" (by Jacques Dukunni, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House), Camille rowed a small boat to the sea and wanted to hear the whale sing, but accidentally found that the whale's vents were covered with oil, unable to breathe, and her life was in danger! Starting from the child's kind nature, the author's Camille immediately came to the rescue of the whale! It uses oars and rags to make "cotton swabs", clean the whale's "nostrils", and then "brush" the whale's teeth, and then enter the whale's body to "clean" its stomach. When all this is done, Camille is tired and falls asleep, and the whale dives into the deep sea with Camille in her belly and sings softly for it. This imaginative conception is based on the child's kind heart, going with the flow, allowing seemingly impossible things to happen in the picture book world. Children naturally get satisfaction from their imaginations, and subtly learn this way of imagining that allows them to get satisfaction.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="30" > philosophy of life</h1>
Philosophy of life is not a patent of adults. A small person, in addition to having a full range of emotional experiences, will also spontaneously think and explore life, and ask many philosophical "big questions" to adults (many adults have been embarrassed by the "ultimate question" raised by children). French picture books do not shy away from "big problems", but in a way that children can accept, they inspire their philosophies of life and help them understand serious propositions such as life and death, war, growth, and love.
Picture books that talk about "war" such as Inside and Outside the Garden (by Chiara Mezarama and Reggie Le Junk, Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House) tell the story of a little girl who moves to Iran with her diplomat father. The little girl lived in the diplomat's mansion, a veritable garden with a high wall that separated her home from the fighting not far away. One day, she found an uninvited guest in the garden who had climbed over the wall—an ordinary Iranian boy. Two children from different backgrounds and language barriers became good friends and forged a strong friendship during the turbulent years. The storyline of the picture book cleverly switches between "inside" and "outside" in the garden, in fact, it is switched between "peace" and "war", through the personal experience of the little girl, it shows the ruthlessness of the gun for the child, and also shows the courage and friendship that cannot be crushed by the gun. Children who have never experienced war can distinguish between "barbarism" and "civilization.".
Another example is "Adults Have Something to Hide from Me" (by Melanie Florian, Jilin Education Publishing House), which talks about the topic of "death". The little girl noticed that her father, mother, and grandfather had become different from usual, as if something was hiding from her. Her closest grandmother hadn't been seen for a long time. Although no one explained it to her, her young mind clearly felt something. So, she used her inner monologue to recall the good times with her grandmother, and then she lay on the ground with her own care, closed her eyes, and boldly guessed: "The feeling of death is probably like falling asleep, right?" Finally, the little girl quietly drew a picture. In the picture, Grandma falls asleep peacefully. She gave the painting to her mother and healed her sorrow. Adults think that children do not understand things, and deliberately hide the fact of the death of their loved ones from her. Unexpectedly, the child instinctively accepted the death of his relatives, and finally gave the adult the warmest comfort. Picture books talk about life and death with children in this way, which is very easy for children to understand.
Another example is mario's wonderful journey (by Simone Palesta, illustrated by Antoni Deprez, Jilin Education Publishing House), which talks about the topic of "growth". At the urging of adults, the boy Mario boarded a train called "Life". On the train, he met unsmiling conductors, as well as expressionless, step-by-step maneuvers of the train machines. Mario was also asked to join the ranks of the workers, and "if you don't work honestly, don't think about reaching the end" is the admonition he received. Luckily, the little man of Mario's childhood dreams flew up to him and took him out of the boring train. After a strange adventure, Mario made it to the finish line. The story compares "growth" to a journey, so that children can intuitively feel the two different ways of moving forward, "step-by-step train" and "Mario's wonderful journey", in fact, to give children a blank space, a choice, to release children from the pressure of growth, to see a variety of possibilities in life.
Turning big propositions into small stories, so that children can have an intuitive experience of esoteric propositions in the process of reading, which is the charm of picture books.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="31" > artistic picture</h1>
The importance of picture to picture books is self-evident. The picture is a supplement to the text and has the function of assisting the advancement of the plot. At the same time, the picture itself is also an independent work of art, which can convey information, render the atmosphere, and express feelings. Many picture books with no words and only pictures are complete and excellent works. Picture book pictures are especially important for children whose picture reading ability is far better than their ability to read words. French picture book creators attach great importance to the form of picture presentation, and emphasize the personalization and artistic sense of the picture while pursuing the perfect combination of pictures and texts.
Some picture books have a beautiful style. For example, the Book of Wordless (by Jean-Marie Hebía, illustrated by Marie Debon, Printing Industry Press): The servant Mandia presents a wordless book to the prince Suka, using blank pages to describe the hidden beauty of nature to the prince. The drawings of The Wordless Book are full of exotic atmosphere, creating a mysterious and dreamy world. The painter uses beautiful tones to give new life and connotation to the natural landscape presented in the book, so that each picture has a strong visual impact and brings young readers beautiful reading enjoyment.
Some picture books are complete and detailed, and the pictures and texts are highly coordinated. For example, in the book "Little Bear's Journey to the Island" (By Benjamin Shaw, Dolphin Press), it is first explained in words: due to heavy snowfall, Papa Bear and Baby Bear had to leave the top floor of the opera house to find a new place to live. On the pictures that match the text, there are many high and low roofs piled high and low, covered with snow, leaving a string of footprints on them. Careful children will find that these footprints contain a lot of information: at the beginning, there are only the footprints of Father Bear on the screen, which shows that Father Bear first carried the baby bear; continue to look, the footprints changed from one line to two lines, which must be a good opportunity for the bear not to miss the snow, so he broke free of The Bear's father's arms and walked on his own; then, the two lines of footprints led in different directions - Oops, father and son should not be separated, right? Further back, there is a big circular "footprint" on the roof! The young reader will understand with a little imagination that this is Daddy Bear accidentally falling in the snow and rolling on a mound! It is precisely because of the meticulousness that these still pictures will produce a dynamic sense of lens in the child's mind, and participate in and improve the picture book creation process as an appreciator.
Some picture book pictures are simple and bold, showing personality. For example, in the picture book "Family Rules in the Family" (by Lawrence Salon, Emmanuel Quev, Gille Rapapol, Dolphin Press), there is a sentence that reads: "I can't always think about driving my stepmother away, the next one may be more unbearable." The picture shows a little boy standing on a pair of super big high heels and peeing in his shoes (pictured)! This is very different from the illustrations of our usual rule books! Such a bold picture allows the child's nature to be released and emotions to be valued, rather than blindly restricted and suppressed. The book uses words to emphasize rules and constraints, and uses pictures to provide release and ease, one by one, and there is a way to relax, which can naturally achieve better educational results.
French picture books and children's books can get the favor of children in China and even the world because there are great mysteries between the small pages! The picture book space is not only the growth space for young readers, but also the space for picture book creators and picture book editors to show their fists and feet. Today, with frequent international exchanges and rich shared resources, there will be more and more parents willing to read a French picture book for their children; there will be more and more Chinese picture book writers and editors who are willing to learn from the excellent practices of French picture book creation and combine deep Chinese culture to create more original picture book books that are truly loved by young readers. If you want to know more about the excellent French picture book works, you can pay attention to the award-winning works of authoritative awards such as PrixSorcières (Witch Award), PrixL'Immortel (Immortal Award), PrixdeTreize (Thirteenth Prize), Prixdepépite (Golden Bean Award), and also browse the French AlbinMichel, Didier Jeunesse, L'écoledesloisirs, MeMo, Hélium, Pocket Jeunesse, Bayard, Flammarion, Seuil and other high-quality children's book publishers' official websites to get the latest French picture book publishing information. Of course, you can also obtain the Chinese publishing rights of French picture books through copyright agencies, in addition to large copyright agencies such as "Boda" and "Big Apple", "Wujuan Five Books and Books News" and "Zhang Ye Copyright Studio" are also good choices for excavating high-quality French picture books. I hope that more children can get rich spiritual food from high-quality picture books and spend a happy childhood!
Text/Yu Yi (Author Affilications:Zhongnan Media International Department)
The original article was published in the October 2021 issue of New Reading