Used Book – Tales from the Deep Forest, Jean Joubert

Jean Joubert, poet and novelist (Prix Renaudot for L'homme de sable), has also published six children's books. With Histoires de la forêt profonde, he addresses young readers this time – from the age of twelve – who are preparing to transition from children's literature to adult books. The forest, a place of mystery and legends, serves as the common thread for these five stories. A young boy leaves the family home, to which he will eventually return, transformed by an initiatory journey. A lord falls in love with a wild girl, associated with an enigmatic vixen. In an ill-fated estate, a green giant brings back fertility and happiness. A rivalry between hunters turns into a merciless war. Or, an itinerant storyteller strangely disappears into the snowy forest of Pampérigousse. The writer, who knows the world of youth well and claims to "always keep the child he once was within him," gives free rein to his imagination here, in a style that is at once simple, harmonious, and evocative. Alain Gauthier's illustrations perfectly extend this atmosphere of dreams and poetry.