Living the City

A journey full of surprises through a wonderful leporello book!

Grandma and Colette, Love at first sight, The joggers, The children’s revolution, Greetings on a bad day, Ode to distraction… 

Six stories focusing on individuality in the city, identity and gender, to be reconstructed with cut-out cards to be placed on the pages of a double-sided leporello: the graphic elements thus isolated in the illustration are accompanied by a text to be discovered. It’s a fun and original way to wander around the city, following its multi-faceted inhabitants as they play a treasure hunt. 

a box  with leporello of 6 pages recto verso 

when closed: 14,8 x 21 cm, when open: 88,8 x 21 cm

+ 18 cards with die-cuts recto/verso

printed with 3 pantones

Author-Ilustrator

Pauline Ferrand, a graduate of ESAL (Épinal) and children’s workshop animator, works for children’s publishing, micro-publishing and the cultural press. Since 2021, she has been interested in visual didactics, the book object and children’s place in reading. Inspired by silk-screen printing, her colorful and contrasting poscas and felt-tip universe blends fine lines and bold shapes around urban or natural themes. Encountered in 2022 during a trip to the Bologna Book Fair organized by the Charte des auteurs et illustrateurs jeunesse, Pauline’s magnificent fold-out book tackles themes dear to her heart with energy and poetry. 

Reviews 

« Unidentifiable Book Object. Since I’m only an adult, it took me a while to figure out how to read this book! There are no pages to leaf through or turn, just cards with holes written on both sides, and a 6-page mini leporello with no text but so full of drawings that they overlap. You have to read the instructions carefully! You don’t understand anything but it’s actually quite simple. And then you piece together 6 lovely, finely illustrated stories. It’s a wonderful thing, where the reader is summoned to act in order to read.

It’s a real reader’s job, and a rewarding one at that. And a job well done by the creator, so well thought-out, so well done. The stories? They’re about people in the city, all of them unique. They’re also about gender and love. Bravo! CCS » 

-Nouvelles du livre jeunesse (TRIM/MARS 2025 — N°243)