The Ballad of Blexbolex

The latest and from what I can tell the most complex narrative from the french artist Blexbolex.

A couple of months ago, I went in search of a birthday gift for the daughter of a friend. And as it is with most younger kids gifts (this young lady was turning six) one tends to think at least as much about the parents and what they might appreciate as one does the child. At least, if one is me.

An early spread in the story depicting the boy’s walk to school.

So I knew I’d hit the jackpot when I found this book, Ballad by Blexbolex, in the kids section at Spoonbill and Sugartown, one of my favorite local bookshops. It has everything I could want in a children’s book. Vintage inspired silkscreened art, a typeface that feels handwritten, a story that starts off with mundane scenes of a regular school day but erupts into full fledged fairytale territory with a witch, a princess, a drummer, panic, an armada, birds, secret messages… In short, it’s a story about a small world exploding into enormity. But the best part is that the author leaves many of the pages devoid of text which encourages the readers to invent their own interpretations of the illustrations. The tale has a happy ending, but the way we get there is entirely up to the individual telling of the story.

Which means we can read this book over and over whilst never hearing the exact same plot twice.

Reason enough to make sure that our kids to learn how to read and write in cursive, if you ask me.