Vivace
By: Gabriel Sabourin
Publisher: La Pastéque, Canada, 2025
Format: Hardback
A big, bold story about a big, bold flower
We found Vivace in the middle of the thousands and thousands of books at the Bologna Children's book fair. This was not by chance- the extra-large format and bold, vivid colors makes the book very hard to miss, even in a place that is brimming with books. Our version measures 29x37 cm!
The large format is the perfect choice for this somewhat surrealistic visual story and its bold and colorful illustrations. It starts off quite traditional, with a seed flown away by a bird. But the reader will understand that this is no ordinary, run-of-the mill story about nature's cycles before the flower has even sprouted: By then there has already been ant close-ups, a moon using his watch to tell the time, lighting caused by clouds fighing, a sun wearing sunglasses... And then, a "Pouf!" - and a beautiful red flower.
The flower will simply not stop growing, nor will it stop interfering with everyone's business. It helps out fellow flowers that need water, invades a nearby house and explores everything in it, and then goes on to stack houses on top of each other. The tower of houses and buildings reach into the universe...but why?
The answer might be hiding in the last spread: Maybe the flower just wanted to reach high enough to be able to embrace the whole world?
Saboutin's use of perspectives is amazing. He makes the reader twist and turn, giving the feel of being thrown into a crazy, visual rollercoaster ride. The reader is placed up in the sky, then down on the ground and then everywhere inbetween. Exteme closeups of ant-faces are mixed with layouts of the entire universe. The book is a mixture of full spreads and two-picture spreads, all with eye-cathing, original layouts. The bright colors and clear black outlines are both beautiful and very effective in this larger-than-life format.
The main story is accompanied by lots of small, fun details and side stories, and also of onomatopoeia like "Ploc!", "Mmm" or "Splouche!", making the book even more enjoyable to read and mediate.
Vivace is first an foremost a very enjoyable read. But it can also be read as a story with a subtle, ecological edge: a protest against grey cities, blind consumerism and our disconnection from nature. The flower is reclaiming nature's impact on our world. This is done without even a hint of moralism, Sabourin places great trust in his readers to draw their own conclusion. It is not only the size of the book that makes Vivace stand out, this is a wonderful, fun and important read for all ages.
