Le puces et le Renard
By: Laura Bellini
Publisher: L´atelier du poisson soluble, France, 2019
Format: Hardback
A tale of fox and fleas
Laura Bellini´s masterful illustrations in acrylic and oil pastels creates an idyllic setting for Les Puces et le Renard: a beautiful, peaceful forest. Her use of ink to draw intricate details like water lilies and other flowers adds to the originality and expression of the pictures. On the first full spread we see a fox sleeping peacefully. The scene looks very harmonic. But wait...what are those? A line of tiny little fleas are marching against the fox!
This is the beginning of a series of illustrations that read almost like a storyboard. We see the fox desperately trying to get rid of the fleas. The left pages are quite dark, showing few details, which helps the readers focus on the fox and the fleas on the right page of each spread. By each spread, the fox grows more and more desperate, until he finally gets an idea. The feeling of following a storyboard for a film or cartoon is now reinforced further by each page now being divided into four panels. The clever plan of the fox seems to be working...but will the fleas end up being the smartest ones?
Le puces et le Renard is a very well though-out composition. The combination of a funny cartoon-like story set in illustrations of such a high artistic level works wonderfully.
Laura Bellini has published several picturebooks, and she also does illustrations and works for the theatre. At her site, she tells that she loves to "explore silence and the things that can happen in this state", and is inspired by the daily and direct observation of children.
This book is also published in Italy by publisher Terre di Mezzo in 2023. It has won two prestigious awards in Belgium and France.
