POETRY FRIDAY A fishy French verse

This is a Poem That Heals Fish
by Jean-Pierre Simeon; illustrated by Olivier Tallec

I'll admit it: I love the French. I love how their whole culture is infused with a poetic outlook; where even describing a rainy day or stale bread or a toothache takes on subtlety and nuance, that can be accepted with a shrug or a sigh, and where absurdities and enigmas coexist with the mundane.

Little Arthur's convinced his fish is going to die of boredom. Mom tells him to hurry, give him a poem, which doesn't seem like advice an American Mom would give. She then dashes off to her tuba lesson, leaving Arthur to figure out what a poem is.

What follows is a discourse on poetry disguised as a simple narrative about a boy in search of the right words. Neighbors and the grandparents weigh in:

--A poem, Arthur, is when you are in love and have the sky in your mouth.

That's from the bicycle shop owner. I want to move to this town. I don't have neighbors that articulate. I don't have Mommy friends who takes  tuba lessons either, and I feel the lack.

Back to Arthur. Piecing together all the advice he gets, he manages quite a lovely set of free verses, which, wouldn't you know it, does the trick for his beloved pet, who has a few wise words of his own.

Tallec's pencil and acrylic art marries Matisse's eye-popping hues and flattened perspective with some quirky surrealism; the result is a fantasy world where a soggy rag speaks and verses soar. And Mom cranks on that tuba. Sign me up for lessons next.

Rating: *\*\*\

Comments

[Bruce]

Ah, oui, I love ze French, aussi. Another favorite, for older readers, is Le Petit Nicholas by Sempe and Goscinny. Tres fabuleux!Now available in English, I believe (though in a somewhat expensive hardcover edition).

[Anne]

Alas, I don't speak any Frog, er, French. I will have to check out Le Petite Nicholas. Maybe I can convince my husband to fly me to Paris to do so.

I can always dream ...

[Jone]

This appears to be a fun book. Thanks for sharing.

[brettdl]

Any day now, any day now.