French Literature

Once upon a time there was a woman born Aurore Dupin in Paris, France in the year 1804. Since male authors were taken more seriously, she published more than 80 plays and novels over the course of her lifetime under the male pseudonym George Sand. The Feminist Press at the City University of New York has just printed a new translation by Holly Erskine Hirko of Sand's What Flowers Say, a fairy tale collection that she penned for her granddaughters. 'Fairies only reveal themselves to eyes that are wide with wonder and devotion.' While Molly Crabapple is credited with illustration, only the cover and title pages are covered in flower sketches. There are three short fairy tales and one longer one, broken into ten parts. The fanciful, highly moral plots are charming at best. Sand's intentions are clear: she wanted to prepare her granddaughters for the world. Through her stories, she wanted to teach them not to be vain and frivolous, but hard working and compassionate. For adults, she reminds that children's rich imaginations are fruitful gardens when tended rather than trampled... (from a review by Sarah Hutchins).

An orphaned baby elephant goes to live in the city with an old lady who gives him everything he wants, but eventually returns to the forest where he is crowned king of the elephants. For additional Babar books, click here.

This beloved, world-famous allegorical classic about a young prince on a quest for knowledge is an essential read for every home library. Combining Richard Howard's translation with restored original full-color art, this definitive English-language edition of The Little Prince will capture the hearts of readers of all ages. Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince. When a pilot crashes in the Sahara Desert, he meets a little boy who asks him to draw a sheep. Gradually the Little Prince reveals more about himself: He comes from a small asteroid, where he lived alone until a rose grew there. But the rose grew demanding, and he was confused by his feelings about her. The story unfolds further from one planet to the next in a thoughtful philosophical exploration of love and the ephemeral.

In France and Germany practically every child of seven and upwards knows the adventures of Nicholas. Written by the author of Asterix, René Goscinny, and with illustrations by New Yorker illustrator, Jean-Jacques Sempé, the five Nicholas books tell of the endearing exploits of the young French school boy and his chums. Available in twenty six languages and established as a literary cult figure, the sublimely innocent Nicholas has seduced millions of readers all over the world. Considered a classic and regularly used by primary and junior school teachers, these stories have the ability to delight both children and adults. Nicholas is the first of five titles to become available to English speaking children all over the world In some way similar to the cheekiness of Calvin and Hobbes and the innocence and naiveté of characters created by the Italian film maker Roberto Benigni, Goscinny and Sempé have created a world of confusion that makes you chuckle out load. Written between 1959 and 1965 these classic books are continually reprinted around the globe and offer, not only an entertaining read, but a vivid description of French life and culture. For other books in the Nicholas series, click here.

The classic French novel celebrated for its deeply felt depiction of childhood. Neglected by his parents, bullied by his peers, left to wander the streets and woods by himself (that is, when he isn't locked in his room or the cellar for punishment), the little redheaded boy known as 'Poil de Carotte' ['Carrot Top'] manages to triumph through imagination, cunning, and sheer persistence. An inspiration to writers as diverse as Barthelme, Beckett, and Sartre, Jules Renard's timeless novel-in-stories is at once the lyrical account of a hard-knock provincial childhood and a frighteningly acute psychological study of how cruelty can affect a young mind-a book that is by turns chilling, humorous, and quietly beautiful.

In the goofy space adventures of a little girl called Sardine, encounters aren't always friendly: weird creatures, cosmic squids, masters of the universe, talking clouds, and evil beings abound. In this volume of twelve stories, Supermuscleman, the chief executive dictator of the universe, is on a mission to make all the galaxy's kids behave. Sardine must enlist the help of her cousin Lou and her pirate uncle, the gruff Captain Yellow Shoulder, to outwit him and his evil plans. The first book in an exciting new series by two of France's most talented comics authors,Sardine is a feast for the imagination of young readers. Emmanuel Guibert, an outstanding artist and graphic storyteller, takes a turn on the script, while Joann Sfar illuminates the writing with rambunctious, high-energy artwork. For additional Sardine in Outer Space books, click
here.

Written and illustrated by one of the world's most acclaimed and award-winning children's authors, The Three Robbers is a timeless tale of mystery and suspense for 4-8 year olds, in which three ferocious thieves are defeated by the guileless logic of an innocent girl.

When Eric, Charles and Andreas stumble across a remarkable computer war game called The Ultimate Experience they soon realise the game has a life of its own...

Orbae was an island of myth and fable, lost forever except for the work of its cartographers. Place creates an entire world for the reader to discover and marvel at. This is the first of three volumes that take the reader on an alphabetical voyage of discovery.

Fifteen contributions (ten in English and five in French) from scholars from North America and Europe reflect on the representation and construction of childhood in French and Francophone literature. Sample topics include retellings of the Little Red Riding Hood story, a Cameroonian coming-of-age narrative, and the significance of game playing in Rousseau's Les Confessions . All but two of the papers were originally presented at a 2003 conference held at the U. of South Carolina.

These books are the first full-length, comprehensive study written in English of French children's literature. They provide both an overview of developments from the seventeenth century to the present day and detailed discussion of texts that are representative, innovative, or influential best-sellers in their own time and beyond. French children's literature is little known in the English-speaking world and, apart from a small number of writers and texts, has been relatively neglected in scholarly studies, despite the prominence of the study of children's literature as a discipline. This project is groundbreaking in its coverage of a wide range of genres, tracing the evolution of children's books in France from early courtesy books, fables and fairy tales, to eighteenth-century moral tales and educational drama, nineteenth-century novels of domestic realism and adventure stories and contemporary detective fiction and fantasy novels. The discussion traces the relationship between children's literature and social change, revealing the extent to which children's books were informed by pedagogical, moral, religious and political agenda and explores the implications of the dual imperatives of instruction and amusement which have underpinned writing for young readers throughout the centuries.

Talents Hauts, a small French publishing house specializing in antisexist children's literature, has published almost 250 books since its startup in 2005. This article offers a critical reading of gender representations in Talents Hauts's corpus of picture books and illustrated junior novels. I analyze a variety of factors that allow gender clichés to insinuate themselves into storylines and diminish literary quality, creating a structural yoke that has been nearly impossible for the young, ambitious press to escape. The Talents Hauts case shows that even the most committed efforts to overcome sexism in children's literature are fraught with challenges.

This study enhances our understanding of katabasis, as well as the intersections between adult and children's literature in English and French, by examining the relationships between works of children's literature incorporating this form of narrative and the Aeneid and the Inferno.