It is first the rather small format and this title, “Le Manteau”, simple, short, that pushed me to open this book. An everyday item, the one we forget in the playground, the one we drag or don’t want to wear. Here, from the cover, you can only see it. It’s a big, thick red coat worn by the postman, Chien. On the first double-page, we learn that he has finished his bike route.
All the mail was deposited in small message lockers.
Chien then searches for his shopping list in the “greaaand” pockets. He pulls out seashells and remains perplexed: where can these “little white sculptures” come from? Chien wants to understand what it is. But above all, how did these seashells end up in his coat. Chien picks up his four children from school, Simon, Sam, Michel, and Alice, who notice that Chien is preoccupied. It’s a bit like he’s suspicious of his coat. He watches it. At night, when the little ones are asleep, he is still as troubled. Plus, he hears strange noises when he puts the white sculptures to his ears. There is a lot of tenderness in this story. And poetry, of course.
Fact Check:
– Clarisse Lochmann is the author and illustrator of the book “Le Manteau.” – The book is published by Seuil jeunesse and can be read with children from four to five years old.
