Prenez une fable fameuse, Le Renard et la Cigogne, de Jean de la Fontaine, illustre poète et fabuliste français. Ajoutez une belle cuillerée d'adaptation par Dana Monceau, agrémentée de la traduction anglaise de Danielle Brown. Saupoudrez d'une bonne dose de virtuosité graphique, sous la forme de superbes planches concoctées par Nadia Léonard. Mélangez avec quelques activités ludiques sur le thème des émotions. Servez à tout public, jeunes et moins jeunes, sans modération aucune !

Le texte est en français et en anglais.

Canne, mais aussi couvre-crâne, parachute, perche, portefaix, canne à pêche… un parapluie répond à de multiples besoins. Mais pour protéger de la pluie, c’est une autre histoire…

Le texte est en français et en anglais.

Dans une vaste plaine se dressait un arbre immense et solitaire. Il était habité par plus de mille corbeaux qui y vivaient en harmonie. Les jeunes respectaient les anciens et leur roi gouvernait avec sagesse et bonté…

La guerre des corbeaux et des hiboux, transpose dans le monde animal, les mensonges et les ambitions du genre humain. Deux peuples s’affrontent, mais ruse et stratégie permettent de triompher de la brutalité.

Le texte est en français et en anglais.

Let me introduce myself, my name is Misty, I’m a cat I live in Paris, In this apartment building next to the bakery Where my friend Caramel Lives so well. He spends his time eating croissants, Licking lollipops, Watching ladies go by the shop.

This book is also available in French: Chat chez Paris.

Moko believes that there is a creature somewhere whose breath is so strong that it makes the branches of the trees move and the sand dunes shift. He thinks that the clouds run away from the wind out of fear of the creature. He goes off to find this creature. Exhausted by the sun and the heat, it is a soft breeze that eases his rest. He then decides that the creature must in fact be a benevolent one.

At the heart of Yucatan, in Maya country. In a hidden cenote lives a mysterious creature, treasure guardian of an ancient lost civilization. In the darkness he eagerly awaits the passage of the sun whose rays can reach the depths of his cave only once a year. This day is approaching and this time the creature is determined to do everything to keep this light that warms and allows him to enjoy his treasures ... But can man capture the sun? And even more keep it?

Moko sees the ocean for the first time. He thinks it is a huge river or lake, but when he tastes the water, he notices that it is salty. He wonders what sorcerer would have played such a trick. Back in his village, he asks an old wise man to cast a spell on the village’s river so that the drinking water never becomes salty. The wise man reassures him that this is not necessary, the water will never be salty and Moko is grateful that someone has already thought of protecting the village’s river.

It is night time and Moko can’t sleep. Looking out to the horizon, he notices a shot of colour at the water’s surface. He wakes Mei-Li to ask her what he is seeing. Together they take a barge and set off. Under them, a rainbow of colours is dancing in the waves. Moko and Mei-Li think that the fish must be organizing a party and decide to dive in. Bit by bit the sun is rising and day is breaking. The two friends return to the village, overjoyed at the wonders of the ocean.

Pour lever la malédiction qui pèse sur son village, Kumakoué, le petit guerrier Zoulou, va se lancer dans un grand voyage. Grâce à son courage, il deviendra ami avec Kombaku l'éléphant solitaire et Lilangani le petit singe aux mains bleues. Avec la force de l'un et la magie de l'autre, il délivrera son village et deviendra un héros, lui qui n'est pourtant pas plus haut que deux tam-tams posés l'un sur l'autre...

Ce livre est aussi disponible en français : Le long voyage de Kumakoué

Day after day, Moko has been going to the shore and contemplating the rising sun. On one particular morning, he is accompanied by his friend, the village’s “wise man”. He asks his friend what he might find at the end of the world, he would very much like to go there. The old man tells him that he must leave everything behind and find out; he doesn’t know what lies at the end of the world but that he would very much like to. Moko promises to return and share his discoveries and takes off on a raft. Suddenly he is caught up in a terrible storm and he pleads with the Sea Beast to let him through. The tornado swirls around his raft and lifts him high in the sky then drops him back atop the waves, safe and sound. As the storm fades into the distance, Moko thanks the Sea Beast for keeping him safe and is now convinced that he will finally know what lies on the other side of the ocean.

Intrigued by the name given to the mountains in the horizon, “the Hills of the round Earth”, Moko ventures off to see if the Earth is, in fact, round. An old wise man tells him that yes, if he were to walk in a straight line he could very well go all the way around the earth and come back to his starting point. Moko does as he is told and travels all the way around the Earth and returns back to his village, but since he didn’t have the feeling that he was walking around a sphere, he continues thinking that the Earth is flat.

Moko is woken by the sound of singing coming from the other end of the beach. It is Mei-Li, who wears a hat the shape of a sand dune and whose eyes are the shape of a moon crescent. As they are walking towards Mei-Li’s village, they feel a terrible rumble and see black smoke coming from the mountain. Moko thinks this is his fault, that he has trespassed in the forbidden forest, and wants to apologize. They arrive at the edge of an enormous chasm, a veritable fire pit. To calm the mountain, Moko offers it a beautiful seashell, as Mei-Li’s ancestors did. The mountain’s rumbling stops and Moko is proud to have learned it’s language.

During the dry season, the river’s water dries up and what is left turns to mud, making it impossible to swim or to drink. Moko wonders how to find water. An old man carrying a stick tells him he should dig behind some rocks, and there he finds water sprouting from the ground. A hidden spring! Moko is so happy at this discovery, he tells himself that water is so precious that it hides itself in the ground to make sure that there is always some left, even when the river is dry.

How a young boy brought back flowers and peace among men ...

A young child, raised in a sad and barren desert, constantly dreams of legends told by the elders... In the past, the world was cheerful and colorful, animals and flowers lived in the prairie... Until the Great Magician, disappointed by the behavior of people, decided to leave, and went to the highest mountains, taking away all the wonders of nature... Gathering his courage, the young boy decides to go and find the great magician in order to bring back flowers and peace to his people.

On this night, Moko is meditating, contemplating the horizon. Mei-Li comes to keep him company. All of a sudden, they hear a hollow and continuous sound coming from beyond the beach. Mei-Li is frightened but Moko is curious and wants to know what is making this sound. As they approach the hills, the sound gets louder and louder and Mei-Li is more and more frightened, so Moko decides to go around the dune on his own. As he does so, the sound changes and becomes more of a song. Moko returns and tells Mei-Li that it is the sand and the ground singing together. She decides to sing as well. Moko thinks to himself that the magical dune is urging him to go on with his travels and he knows that this is likely his last day in the village. With a heavy heart, Moko decides that at dawn he will need to pack his bags.

With a storm approaching, Moko heads towards a nearby tree to seek shelter. An old man urges him to reconsider and tells him to return to the village, the tree could suddenly burst into flame. On his way back to the village, Moko sees a lightning bolt hit the very same tree, and set it on fire. Frightened, Moko thinks that the old man must be a magician to have predicted such a thing.

The snow’s thaw is drawing to a close and the mountain is shedding it’s white robe. Alarick and Moko are fishing in one of the mountain’s springs and are catching nothing. They ask an old wise man to tell them where there might be fish. He points them towards the road to the “Ancient mountain”. They follow the road the old man told them about and reach a green luxuriant hill covered with fruit trees and streams. They think that this hill, smaller than their mountain, richer and greener, is younger and simply hasn’t grown up yet.

On this morning, Moko is rowing relentlessly to bring back the barge as Mei-Li sleeps. Suddenly, he can’t seem to make the oar move at all. He wakes Mei-Li so she can help him row, but it is no use, the barge starts moving in the opposite direction. In the distance they notice a fisherman and try to call out to him, but he is too far and cannot hear them. Beyond a huge boulder they see a forest and start rowing furiously in its direction. Finally ashore, Moko and Mei-Li think that the sea still had another secret in store for them, this new part of Mei-Li’s island.

In the middle of the day, the sun suddenly starts disappearing little by little. Frightened, Moko wonders what magician could be responsible for this. With the village wise man he goes off to find the sorcerer responsible for the sun’s disappearance. When they cannot find the culprit, they join the other villagers to observe the sky. An old lady sees them and tells them she has seen this happen before and to have no fear, the sun will return. When it does, Moko thinks to himself that the sun, tired of shining every day, must sometimes simply need a little nap.

On that morning, Moko goes to see he friend the village wise man. The old man has such a beautiful garden filled with so many beautiful flowers that Moko spends the whole day admiring them. The old man gives him a rose, and tells him to take very good care of it. When Moko returns home, he notices that his rose is wilting. He thinks of bringing it to a river, but the rose dries out completely. The old man finds Moko crying, saddened by the loss of his beautiful flower. As the wind gusts around them, the old man tells him to look down at his precious rose. Moko is amazed to discover that his withered rose has become a sand rose. The wise man tells him to guard this secret as if it was a treasure. Moko thinks then that he must also have meant a great deal to the rose, and that the wind consoled his sadness.

Une petite grenouille se trouve trop ordinaire et désespère d’attirer l’attention des autres animaux. Lorsqu’elle découvre qu’elle peut grossir à l’infini en buvant l’eau du fleuve, elle entreprend d’avaler toute l’eau de la terre, jusqu’à la dernière goutte, afin de mettre le monde à ses pieds…

Ce livre est aussi disponible en français : L'eau de la Terre.

A young boy dreamed of taking a boat to the sea. Then three mysterious and familiar swans appeared on the surface of the water. Riding a wood board, the boy went to sea to try and catch the birds ... But without ever reaching them, he soon found himself in the middle of the sea...

On an African Atlantic beach, facing the ocean, Loango watches the waves, deeply concentrated. His grandmother Mame Tsaku told him that if he managed to count one thousand and one waves, then his dearest wish would come true.

What if this were true ?

That morning, Moko tells himself that it is time to leave Mei-Li’s land and he gets his raft ready. A man tells him that he must take the route of the great plains to continue his journey. Moko goes to the village to bid farewell to Mei-Li who has made rice cakes for him. One morning a few days after his departure he reaches the famous route where the horizon seems never-ending. As he walks a great gust of wind makes him fall and drop his precious stone. Seeing it on the ground, Moko thinks of Mei-Li and tells himself he must go on for those he has left behind. He goes on while clutching his stone in his hand. Moko’s heart lightens as he thinks that one day his travels will bring him back to those he loves.

Moko, watching the sky one night, sees a shooting star and wonders where the stars come from. He travels to the mountain and meets a woman tending to a bonfire. As the woman blows on the fire to revive it, glowing embers fly up high into the sky. Moko thinks that he has found the source of all the stars in the sky.