A page turns: Illustrator Bernadette Després, who made young readers laugh thanks to her pencil strokes in the cult comic book series Tom-Tom and Nanadied at the age of 83 on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, Bayard editions announced on Wednesday, November 20.
“It is with immense sadness that our teams learned today of the death of illustrator Bernadette Després,” said the youth branch of Bayard in a press release, specifying that its teams will pay tribute to the artist during of the Book and Youth Press Fair in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis) at the end of November 2024.
An artist who didn't like the seriousness of adults
“One day, a child told me that with my stories, I took revenge on adults and that’s very true,” the cartoonist admitted in the newspaper. The Cross in 2019. I don't like adults. They impress me with their seriousness.”
With the adventures of Tom-Tom and Nanawritten by her accomplices Jacqueline Cohen and Évelyne Reberg, Bernadette Després has always wanted to make young readers laugh. And with the antics of the heroes, Tom-Tom the big brother with his striped t-shirt and Nana the little sister with blonde braids, it was a successful bet.
An editorial card
These characters with joyful adventures have “an unprecedented track record in children's publishing”, recalled Bayard Jeunesse, with notably 34 volumes in edition, more than 3,000 original plates published in the form of episodes in the monthly I like to read since 1977 and an adaptation into an animated television series.
Bernadette Després put “in images, always with humor, texts relating to the daily life of children and families”, underlined the publishing group.
Honors after the struggle
Born in Paris in March 1941, Bernadette Després began her career as an illustrator for the Bayard Jeunesse newspapers and then worked for different publishers.
In 1976, Bayard Jeunesse asked Bernadette Després and Jacqueline Cohen to create a monthly comic strip: À la bonne fork will officially become Tom-Tom and Nana in 1990.
Our “BD” file
Recognized by her peers, the designer won, for all of her work, the Fauve d'Honneur at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2019, and was elevated to the rank of Knight of the Legion of Honor in 2021.
