Par aline.scherfling Published on Apr 28 2025 at 8:00 p.m.
Before presenting their works at the Trouville-sur-Mer youth book fair (Calvados) this weekend, five authors went, Friday, April 25, in Trouvillaises schools. Like every year, everyone took the time to chat with large section classes at CM 2.
Jean-Charles Sarrazin, Parisian illustrator author, has chosen to talk about Sassoua book released in 2014, to a group of 19 CP from the Delamare school. The students had already discovered history a few days before, so its author opted for a illustration demonstration.
An interactive meeting
With two large white sheets on the board, Jean-Charles Sarrazin begins to draw under the silent eyes of his young audience. “I draw a round because I like round faces,” he explains, simply. Then he draws a smile there. “He’s happy because he comes to see you.” The rest of the drawing is built by questioning the children. The questions “Sassou is welcomed by which animal”, or “of what color can we make the lion”, generate answers sometimes timid, and sometimes clearly playful. As soon as a color is added, everyone goes with their opinion: “wow” for yellow and red, “yuck” for brown and green. And color is important, since if Sassou’s clothing, the main character, is red, is no coincidence. With history, it is a Additional reference to well -known tale Little Red Riding Hoodbut in the environment of the savannah.
-Once the illustration is finished, Jean-Charles Sarrazin adds a dedication to it. “You want to draw you too,” he asks. With enthusiastic answers, students learn to draw the emotions of the characters until the end of the meeting.
Make a link and win your crust
This is not the first time that Jean-Charles Sarrazin has exhibited his work in front of classes. In addition to his 30 years of career, he has already participated three or four times in the Trouville youth book fair, and met several classes per year. “I like to tell by the image, and children’s books are fortunate to have great images,” says the author and illustrator, about his productions. “Meeting classes makes it possible to make the link between the media library, the books and us, authors, but also to win our crust. It’s hard to live from copyright ”!
Students also learn from these meetings. “This allows children to Discover the profession of an illustrator authorand know how they do it, ”explains Sophie Le Brun, teacher. Next year, his CPs will be in CE1, and will experience a third different meeting, and adapted to their greatest age.
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