Children’s books | Our suggestions

Among the books for children or adolescents published recently, here are six titles that caught our attention.

For the little ones: the cape with a thousand and one possibilities

Émile’s favorite item of clothing? “A beautiful superhero cape (or a magician’s cape, for that matter, he doesn’t really know that). » A piece of satin fabric that has followed him for years on all his adventures. But now the garment is made too small. His mother wants to give it to her younger sister, but Émile insists on keeping it… until the day he is ready to pass it on. Because the cape still has many memories to create. A touching book about children’s favorite things and brotherly love.

Emile’s cape. Text by Catherine Buquet, illustrations by Dominique Yelle. Editions Les 400 coups. From 4 years old.

For primary school children: funny investigation

Oscar, the skeleton from the science room, has vanished. The deputy director is determined to find the person responsible for this mysterious disappearance. To do this, she invites suspicious students and members of staff into her office in turn. There is panic among the teammates of the improvisation group, who know more than they say! To develop this funny investigation, the four experienced children’s authors provide readers with reports of meetings in the principal’s office and text message exchanges between students. A funny and dynamic novel that you can devour in one sitting.

The Buddy Bussieres affair. Text by François Gravel, Johanne Mercier, Alain M. Bergeron and Martine Latulippe, illustrations by Mathilde Filippi. Editions La Courte Escale. From 9 years old.

For teenagers: vampire story

Does your teenager not like reading long novels? The new Clik collection, launched this fall by Héritage jeunesse, might just please him. There are short, rhythmic stories intended for ages 12 and up. In Visions of the shadowsMathilde and her brother Paul receive as an inheritance from their grandfather the key to a mini-warehouse filled with travel souvenirs. The teenager, who has visions when in contact with certain objects, realizes that these old things are in fact the key to solving… a vampire story. A captivating investigation inspired by a true event.

Visions of the shadowstome 1 – The strange cabinetby Fabrice Boulanger. Éditions Héritage Jeunesse. From 12 years old.

For teenagers: under the Haitian sun

From the start of reading this graphic novel, beautifully illustrated by Pascal Blanchet, you feel transported to the warm Haitian sun. Inspired by the very strong fraternal bond that united her father and uncle, the author Catherine Fouron recounts the happy daily life of children growing up in Les Cayes, imbuing the reader with Haitian culture. The text is notably punctuated with Creole expressions and proverbs, the meaning of which is given at the end of the book. We follow Jo and Popol until adulthood, when they immigrate to Canada and become brilliant doctors. A moving tribute.

Old branch. Text by Catherine Fouron, illustrations by Pascal Blanchet. Editions La Bagnole. From 12 years old.

Comics: crazy times

A robot that defends Cro-Magnon men against terrible dinosaurs? Why not ! In this promising new comic strip, cartoonist Sylvain Lavoie mixes eras for a very entertaining result. The adventure of Cro-Manon and Cro-Gaston who wish to capture the Sun in order to become masters of fire is full of crazy anachronisms. We also find at the end of the book two pages which disentangle the true from the false.

Crobot Magnontome 1 – Prehistoric tin can. Text and illustrations by Sylvain Lavoie. Éditions Les malins. From 7 years old.

Documentary: new horizons for the Did you know?

Since this fall, the popular animal documentary series Did you know? explores other horizons: the human body. The authors of this new branch of the collection have the ambition to introduce young readers to “everything” there is to know on the subject. In the volume on hair, we learn in particular that a human has, on average, between 100,000 and 150,000 hairs and that redheads represent only 2% of the world population. The book is full of surprising information accompanied by a good dose of humor. The perfect collection for learning while having fun.

Did you know? Body – Hair. Text by Michel Quintin and Freg, illustrations by Freg. Editions Michel Quintin. From 7 years old.