Les Frères Zzli, by Alex Cousseau, illustrated by Anne-Lise Boutin
The Zzli brothers have come from far away! They’ve gone through a long and perilous way to get here. Welcome, the little girl, welcomes the three travelers into her house, where one can now hear laughter and smell warm pancakes. Outside, the brothers fix the swing, and put up beehives.
But it doesn’t take long for a policeman to show up: the neighbours have been complaining. Then, one day, the house burns down… The Zzli brothers and Welcome leave the house and the woods for good. No doubt the four of them will find a more welcoming home elsewhere.
Alex Cousseau explores the theme of migrants and their reception. Thanks to Anne-Lise Boutin’s colourful and dense illustrations, this subject is wonderfully suited to young audiences and will appeal to children and parents alike.
40 pages hardcover picture book, 24 x 32 cm
Rights sold: Dutch, English (US), Korean, Italian
– Sometimes bears have to flee their country, for reasons that escape us. How lucky these three are to be sheltered by a little girl named Bienvenue! A joyful and committed picture book about the condition of refugees. Marine Landrot in Telerama
– The strength of this story lies above all in its depiction of a bucolic, charming daily life, full of laughter, portrayed by illustrations with wild ornaments, anthropomorphic facetiousness and singular harmonies of colour. A serene daily life which then comes up against an injustice, as if to spark a flame of commitment, or at least of empathy. Les frères Zzli is thus a skilful and rural album, to question one’s relationship with others and find harmony. Denis Chaissoux in L’as-tu lu mon p’tit loup ? on France Inter Radio
– It is a simple approach to social issues with both finesse and sensitivity. A lot of hope can be found in this reading, which is as necessary, as vibrant and as much fun for young and old. (…)
One is reminded visually of certain Russian illustrators of the early 20th century working on tales and legends in a form of naivety that is totally delightful. Note the very successful cover with a selective varnish of the most beautiful effect and a typogram of the title where the letters of “Zzli” are as hairy as the three bears! Elsa Gounot, on Aligre FM radio
– A unique and touching take on the subjects of immigration and intolerance, welcome in collections alongside Yuyi Morales’s Dreamers and Issa Watanabe’s Migrants. In the School Library Journal
– The serious themes are balanced by Boutin’s decorative, stylized illustrations (with many festive scences embellished with berries, vines, and flowers) in a palette reminiscent of old-fashioned color-separated art. In The Horn Book Magazine
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