Nicholas Again - Hardcover

Jean-Jacques Sempe (b.1932) is one of the world's most successful illustrators and cartoonists. He is the illustrator of the classic children's-book character, Nicholas, and author of a collection of some thirty albums of his cartoons and graphic novels, all published or to be published by Phaidon. His world-renowned illustrations and cartoons are featured on the cover of the New Yorker and in Paris Match. Rene Goscinny (1926 - 1977) is the world-famous writer and creator, along with Albert Uderzo, of the adventures of Asterix the Gaul. Born in Paris, Goscinny lived in Buenos Aires and New York before returning to France in the 1950s where he met Jean-Jacques Sempe. They collaborated on picture strips and then stories about Nicholas, the popular French schoolboy. An internationally successful children's author who also won awards for his animated cartoons, Goscinny died in 1977. Anthea Bellwas awarded the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize (USA) in 2002 for her translation of W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz. Her many works of translation from French and German (for which she has received several other awards) include the Nicholas books and, with Derek Hockridge, the entire Asterix the Gaul saga by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.

Gr. 3-5. Irrepressible French schoolboy Nicholas returns in this follow-up to 2006 Batchelder Honor book Nicholas (2005)--the first two of five existing books to be affectionately translated by Bell, none of which have been previously available in the U.S. In brief, stand-alone vignettes punctuated with line drawings by New Yorker illustrator Sempe, Nicholas continues to tussle with his gang of elementary-school pals, exasperate Old Spud and other school officials, and obliviously push his parents' buttons. The sophisticated-looking cloth format may be difficult for some young readers to get past, as will a few dated references (Asterix creator Goscinny originated this character in the 1950s). There are also elements that seem out of place in an illustrated chapter book, including humor drawn from adult-world dynamics and one insult translated as "feeble-ass." Readers who enthusiastically tackle American novels about mischievous elementary school kids may not be quite up to this worldlier French version, but they'll certainly enjoy hearing the silliest tales read aloud, and chapter-a-day sharing may help gather an audience among slightly older children, too. Jennifer Mattson
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