Birds
By: Damien Poulain
Publisher: Editions du livre, France, 2023
Format: Board book, Mix-and-match
50 birds in a colorful and geometric visual language
"Editions du livres" is a French publishing house that specialises in artists books for children. The poetics inherent to the manipulation of the book as an object resonates with its content, so the shape of the book becomes the substance. They offer out-of-the ordinary titles of high artistic quality. Damien Poulain is a successful artist that develop sculptural systems for geometry and color. "Birds" is a match made in heaven - the bold, colorful illustration style of the artist and the publishing house`s expertice in creating books that are exciting art objects in their own right.
"Birds" is a mix-and-match book, a small scale cartonated object in four colors: Yellow, pink, purple and magenta. The format allows the reader to create a total of 50 different totemic birds. The pleasure lies in both the colorful visual impressions, the different bird expressions (funny, weird, cute, a little scary) and the act of handling of the book. Children and adults alike take great pleasure in the movement and the different visual impacts of the colors and geometric shapes.
This is one of my favourite books to mediate with toddlers. They love it, both as an object and for the bird stories we make. I pair it with my large collection of bird whistles and we make up new and weird birds together. To create an artists book that works so well with very young children is no easy feat!
The construction and binding of the book is very sturdy, which is of course very important in a book meant for a young audience. Please do not let the fact that it works so well with toddlers stop you from using it with other age groups, this is a book that creates joy and a sense of whimsy and wonder for all ages!
