Three children’s books that tell a job

> Teamwork

Here is a book that does not tell of one trade, but dozens of trades. Because to mount a “great exhibition”, as the title of this book with colorful and sharp graphics suggests, it is not enough for an artist. After describing the work of Viola, sculptress, and Sebastian, painter, the narrator endeavors to introduce us to all those who make their work exist. The handlers, the curator of the exhibition, the archivist, the communication officer, the curator, the catalog editor… We end up at the museum, where we admire the work of Viola and Sebastian all the more as the ‘we now know that he is anything but solitary.

“And if we had a big exhibition? », by Doro Globus and Rose Blake, translated from English by Sophie Giraud, Helium, 40 p., €16.90. From 7 years old.

> Everyone

Welcome to a metalbook. A book that explains to you, and even shows you, how and by whom it was made. From the cover page of this great work, we learn in all directions: do you know what a frank-edged cover is? Well here you can both read the definition and touch it. Ditto for the Swiss binding, the offset paper, the Lola grotesque typeface (which only has the name). Then, the book is chaptered by trades: the author, the editor, the illustrator, the bookseller, etc., up to the readers. Each of these chapters is filled with historical information, examples and anecdotes, mixing technical and literary questions. All happily illustrated. A great idea to discover the trades of the book.

“The Great Adventure of the Book”, by Camille de Cussac and Stéphanie Vernet, Dada, 52 p., €19. From 9 years old.

> Household tour

Based on the inexhaustible fascination of toddlers for garbage trucks, this book offers the discovery of a special profession, fascinating and difficult: that of garbage collector. Gaspard gets up very early every morning. He goes out when it is dark and has breakfast at the bakery, which is opening. Together with his colleagues Elsa and Carlos, the driver, they prepare the route for the tour and get dressed. We then follow them in the city which is slowly awakening, while they collect the 3 tons of garbage daily. Rituals and encounters punctuate their working day. There emerges from these dusty illustrations an astonishing softness. The texts never yield to any demagogy, recounting Gaspard’s work in chosen words, until he returns home.

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