Monosourcil

Cover artwork for 'Monsourcil'

The novel, written by Delphine Vallette, depicts life through the eyes of ten year old Thomas. The anxiety caused by school bullying, mainly based on physical differences, is central to Thomas' experience. The story highlights the need for accepting differences, discovering a variety of personalities (nothing is what it first seems), understanding and friendship

Fold out dust jacket of the front and back covers for 'Monosourcil'

An illustrated middle grade fiction title about the bullying Thomas endures because of his monobrow

The dust jacket for 'Monosourcil' becomes a two sided A3 poster featuring the main characters of the story and a full scale schoolyard scene

Artwork from 'Monosourcil'

Excerpt from the story: "Since this morning, Thomas has a new nickname. Not “kitten” as his mother likes to call him even though he is no longer a baby, but “Monobrow”. It was Leonard, the most popular boy in his class who gave him this nickname at recess. Monowhat? Thomas isn't sure what that means, but he can't stop thinking about it"

Spread from 'Monosourcil'

Thomas' closest friend Sofaine, is a romantic, but he's also a strong character and the only one that stands up to Léonard, the main bully

Artwork from 'Monosourcil'

An illustrated middle grade fiction title about the bullying Thomas endures because of his monobrow

Spread from 'Monosourcil'

An illustrated middle grade fiction title about the bullying Thomas endures because of his monobrow

Spread from 'Monosourcil'

Renaud: 

"School harassment is a very complex subject to tackle. I feel that the author, Delphine Vallette, handled it in a very sensitive way by making it clear and understandable enough for young readers, but without holding back. The text is quite tough at moments. I think she really nailed the general rhythm of the story by making moments of distress and anxiety and little by little recovering some trust and hope. By reading the book with Delphine, we shared similar experiences we had with our own kids - their relations with school friends and with the infamous schoolyard dominated by football games"

Artwork from 'Monosourcil'

An illustrated middle grade fiction title about the bullying Thomas endures because of his monobrow

Artwork from 'Monosourcil'

Thomas' anxiety about school means that he's struggling to sleep at night. At ten years old, he's still a little boy with his toys and his own safe world in his room, while life at school seems to be brutally challenging. The artwork was inspired by Renaud's son's bedroom

Artwork from 'Monosourcil'

The story's pivotal moment is when Thomas feels some sympathy towards his bully, Léonard. They both share a love of swimming and Léonard begins to open up to Thomas about his parents divorce

Artwork from 'Monosourcil'

An illustrated middle grade fiction title about the bullying Thomas endures because of his monobrow

Artwork from 'Monosourcil'

Renaud: 

"The colours are my choice and I proposed them to the publisher. I've always liked to work with a limited palette, and then play with half-tone patterns and overprints. It brings a little vintage vibe to the images that I really like to play with. My favourite artwork in the book is the double-page with Sofiane and Victor playing kung-fu masters!"

Artwork from 'Monosourcil'

An illustrated middle grade fiction title about the bullying Thomas endures because of his monobrow

Inside the wraparound dust jacket, which folds out to an A3 poster

All the main characters from 'Monosourcil' are depicted

Some of Renaud's original character sketches for Thomas in 'Monosourcil'

Renaud: 

"At the beginning I had the idea of completely transforming the characters into creatures or objects in relation to their physical differences. I really liked the idea of making Thomas a broom and Sofaine, his friend, a big balloon. It quickly appeared too unbalanced though, as there are only the main characters with physical descriptions and I felt it would be too confusing to the reader. Of course, I kept the idea to exaggerate the physical particularities of each character and also invented some new ones for the bullies. 

There is a poster that folds out from the cover that shows the portraits of the main characters we encounter in the book. It's like a little 'cour des miracles' - eyebrows, big teeth, braces, snake tongue etc"r