Chris Riddell
Milan Jeunesse
(8/9 yrs old and up)
Apolline est passionnée d’énigmes en tout genre et experte dans l’art du déguisement. Et ça tombe merveilleusement bien : une série de cambriolages frappe la « Grande Ville » et des chiens de race disparaissent les uns après les autres. Qu’à cela ne tienne, Apoline va mener l’enquête... Une nouvelle héroïne tendre et insolite surgie de l’imagination merveilleuse de Chris Riddell. On l’adore déjà...
A tale told in intricate, finely detailed pictures linked by occasional brief bursts of prose introduces Eloise-like young Ottoline (Apolline in the french version), who shares a large apartment with hair-covered sidekick Mr. Munroe, collects odd single shoes and postcards from her parents (who are generally off on travels) and solves mysteries. Here, she concocts an elaborate scheme to track down a gaggle of missing lap dogs and to trap a cat burglar - who actually turns out to be a cat. Children who linger over the illustrations, ink drawings with occasional highlights in red, will find all sorts of odd, precisely depicted household objects and comical details among the gracefully posed human and animal characters. There's an abstract air to the whole episode, but the plot trots along smoothly, and Riddell's distinctive visual style shows off to better effect here than in the cramped art for his Edge Chronicles and other collaborations.
A good book is a good friend – Un bon livre est un bon ami
