Confident, bristly-haired Meeselphe tumbles headfirst into a whimsical world of riddles, monsters, and magical landscapes – celebrated French children’s book author-illustrator Claude Ponti’s latest adventure
Leaning out of her treehouse window, Meeselphe wonders what it’s like way down on the ground, a place she’s never been – but she’s certain there are many unfamiliar, delightful, and curious things to discover. So she jumps! Landing on the forest floor and striding fearlessly into the wackanana landscape of chocolate rabbits and Penrose quinces beyond, bristly-haired Meeselphe encounters friends and feckless foes. Malivicious monsters stand in her way and nothing is as it seems in this whimsical and sometimes unfriendly world, but Meeselphe isn’t fazed: she has an answer for every riddle and a red paintbrush for every self-conscious ladybug. In the final showdown, scheduled for pages 38 and 39, our bushy-haired heroine makes a triumphant stand against the malivicious monsters. In detailed illustrations and Claude Ponti’s trademark wordplay, cleverly renderedin this inventive translation by Alyson Waters and Margot Kerlidou, young readers will experience the thrill of adventure and the pleasure of coming home again.
"When [Meeselphe] leaves her house-tree one day to explore a phantasmagorical landscape portrayed in sprightly, clear lines, she befriends a “sadbandoned” baby bird and coolly answers riddles posed by a series of blobby monsters . . . Waters and Kerlidou deal creatively with puns and invented words (“confusifying”) in this surrealist excursion that builds . . . to a final triumphant showdown." –– Publishers Weekly
"Meeselphe's admirably straight and bristle-like hairdo remains as upright as the girl's resolve throughout a series of strange encounters . . . Readers who enjoy imaginative fare and adventure tales will return to this book many times . . . Illustrations are a blend of the fanciful and realistic, with an emphasis on the fanciful . . . It may remind one of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."– Children's Literature
"Ponti weaves language like a master puppeteer, turning ordinary words into whimsical spells . . . The illustrations burst with color and imagination, inviting readers to linger and explore . . . Meeselphe embodies curiosity, resilience, and the magic of embracing the unknown . . . So, dear reader, grab your own bristly hair (real or imagined), leap into the unknown, and discover the magic that awaits." — Momma Braga blog
"There is so much to love in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed that it was not sparse in language. The abundance of language and repetitions add to the cadence and enjoyment of reading Meeselphe aloud . . . Readers are invited to accompany Meeselphe on her adventure, to be carried from one sentence to the next like a carnival ride, to marvel at all she discovers, and to take their time considering them."–– Michelle Nott
Claude Ponti is a French illustrator and children’s author known for his inventive and playful use of words and the symbolic nature of his illustrations. His first book, L’Album d’Adèle, written for his newborn daughter, already displays the associative and dream-like presentation of children’s interior lives that characterizes many of his works. Ponti was awarded the 2006 Sorcières Spécial prize for his contribution to literature, which now includes over seventy books of all types and for all ages. Alyson Waters is a translator of modern and contemporary literary fiction, criticism and theory, as well as art history. Her book translations include works by Vassilis Alexakis, Louis Aragon, Daniel Arasse, René Belletto, Reda Bensmaia, Emmanuel Bove, Eric Chevillard, Albert Cossery, Yasmina Khadra, and Tzvetan Todorov. She teaches literary translation workshops at Yale University and at New York University, and now at Columbia. In addition to her work as a translator and teacher, she has been the editor of Yale French Studies for almost twenty years. She is the translator of Claude Ponti’s My Valley, Hiznobyuti,and Blaze and the Castle Cake for Bertha Daye (Elsewhere Editions). Margot Kerlidou is a photographer, French tutor, and herbalist. Claude Ponti was her favorite author when she was a child.
Confident, bristly-haired Meeselphe tumbles headfirst into a whimsical world of riddles, monsters, and magical landscapes – celebrated French children’s book author-illustrator Claude Ponti’s latest adventure
Leaning out of her treehouse window, Meeselphe wonders what it’s like way down on the ground, a place she’s never been – but she’s certain there are many unfamiliar, delightful, and curious things to discover. So she jumps! Landing on the forest floor and striding fearlessly into the wackanana landscape of chocolate rabbits and Penrose quinces beyond, bristly-haired Meeselphe encounters friends and feckless foes. Malivicious monsters stand in her way and nothing is as it seems in this whimsical and sometimes unfriendly world, but Meeselphe isn’t fazed: she has an answer for every riddle and a red paintbrush for every self-conscious ladybug. In the final showdown, scheduled for pages 38 and 39, our bushy-haired heroine makes a triumphant stand against the malivicious monsters. In detailed illustrations and Claude Ponti’s trademark wordplay, cleverly renderedin this inventive translation by Alyson Waters and Margot Kerlidou, young readers will experience the thrill of adventure and the pleasure of coming home again.
Praise
"When [Meeselphe] leaves her house-tree one day to explore a phantasmagorical landscape portrayed in sprightly, clear lines, she befriends a “sadbandoned” baby bird and coolly answers riddles posed by a series of blobby monsters . . . Waters and Kerlidou deal creatively with puns and invented words (“confusifying”) in this surrealist excursion that builds . . . to a final triumphant showdown." –– Publishers Weekly
"Meeselphe's admirably straight and bristle-like hairdo remains as upright as the girl's resolve throughout a series of strange encounters . . . Readers who enjoy imaginative fare and adventure tales will return to this book many times . . . Illustrations are a blend of the fanciful and realistic, with an emphasis on the fanciful . . . It may remind one of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."– Children's Literature
"Ponti weaves language like a master puppeteer, turning ordinary words into whimsical spells . . . The illustrations burst with color and imagination, inviting readers to linger and explore . . . Meeselphe embodies curiosity, resilience, and the magic of embracing the unknown . . . So, dear reader, grab your own bristly hair (real or imagined), leap into the unknown, and discover the magic that awaits." — Momma Braga blog
"There is so much to love in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed that it was not sparse in language. The abundance of language and repetitions add to the cadence and enjoyment of reading Meeselphe aloud . . . Readers are invited to accompany Meeselphe on her adventure, to be carried from one sentence to the next like a carnival ride, to marvel at all she discovers, and to take their time considering them."–– Michelle Nott
Author
Claude Ponti is a French illustrator and children’s author known for his inventive and playful use of words and the symbolic nature of his illustrations. His first book, L’Album d’Adèle, written for his newborn daughter, already displays the associative and dream-like presentation of children’s interior lives that characterizes many of his works. Ponti was awarded the 2006 Sorcières Spécial prize for his contribution to literature, which now includes over seventy books of all types and for all ages. Alyson Waters is a translator of modern and contemporary literary fiction, criticism and theory, as well as art history. Her book translations include works by Vassilis Alexakis, Louis Aragon, Daniel Arasse, René Belletto, Reda Bensmaia, Emmanuel Bove, Eric Chevillard, Albert Cossery, Yasmina Khadra, and Tzvetan Todorov. She teaches literary translation workshops at Yale University and at New York University, and now at Columbia. In addition to her work as a translator and teacher, she has been the editor of Yale French Studies for almost twenty years. She is the translator of Claude Ponti’s My Valley, Hiznobyuti,and Blaze and the Castle Cake for Bertha Daye (Elsewhere Editions). Margot Kerlidou is a photographer, French tutor, and herbalist. Claude Ponti was her favorite author when she was a child.
