We’ve been waiting for you

We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. We didn’t know what you’d look like, how old you’d be or what kind of character you’d have. We didn’t know what language you’d speak, or what memories you’d have. But we knew we loved you already.

Reviews:

“A highly accurate and infinitely sensitive album about the waiting of a couple of adoptive parents. Soft, warm illustrations and a short, poetic text tell the story of waiting for this child, the preparation, the dreams, the hopes, the desires, the projections. Love and filiation beyond blood ties. Until his arrival, to be lulled to sleep by the last pages without words, just to enjoy. It’s a subject that’s rarely tackled and yet is so important.”

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

Xan Harotin (author)

Xan Harotin lives and works in Brussels. She draws for various magazines. She loves nature, drawing animals and imagining stories. In 2018, she published her first book as an illustrator: Le Monstre Plat written by Fabien Clavel (published by Petites Bulles Éditions). In fact, she won the illustration prize for first album at the Roubaix BD Festival. Nous t’attendions is her second album to be published by L’Étagère du bas, after J’ai décidé de changer, in 2019.

Lucille Michieli (illustrator)

Lucille Michieli is a freelance illustrator based in Paris. A graduate of the École Estienne, she first worked in the communications sector before collaborating with several toy brands and magazines such as Milk. Her universe blends nature and fantasy influences, in a soft, dreamlike chromatic palette. After Le Jour où j’ai grandi, Nous t’attendions is her second picture book to be published by L’Étagère du bas.