Devine qui fait quoi
By: Gerda Muller
Publisher: Lécole des loisirs, France, 1999 (Our version, "Indovina che cosa succede" from Bababum, 2017)
Format: Paperback
Footprints in the snow
At first sight Devine qui fait quoi ("Guess what happens next") appears to be a book that is both without words and without protagonists. Turning the pages, it becomes obvious that the main characters, a boy and his dog, are very much present, even if they, for the main part of the book, are visible only by their footsteps in the snow.
The first page shows footprints in a bedroom. They lead the reader to the bathroom, then to the chair where is clothes are laid out and into the kitchen. From the kitchen the footprints leads the reader outside, where they are joined by another set, that of a dog. The two sets of footsprints can be followed around in a series of full spreads, all of idyllic winter landscapes. They meet, and interact with, birds, rivers, horses and wheelbarrows. At last they go back inside, where the boy and his dog have fun in his play boat.
This charming, little book is made like a puzzle for the reader to figure out. The illustrations at the frontpaper shows the dog and the boy doing all kinds of activitites, they chase birds, carry wood, eat breakfast, get dressed. By following not only the footsteps, but also all the other visual clues given in the pictures, the reader can place the different activities in the different pictures. Devine qui fait quoi? is an excellent tool for developing visual literacy, it trains the eye and the patience needed to spend enough time at each picture to really start the meaning-making process.
The book is still in print, and Floris books published it with an English title Whose footprints are these?, in 2022. A fun book that can also inspire taking a walk outside in the snow to make and look at footprints!
