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Les Éditions Variétés: La Fontaine a Colorier

1943 Homme, Le Bipede. Textes établis par Robert E. Llewellyn. Images de Jean Simard. Paperbound. Montréal: Fables de La Fontaine a Colorier: Les Éditions Variétés. $9.99 from Sam Yulish, Tucson, AZ, through eBay, Feb., '07.

Here is one of a set of six coloring books from during the Second World War which I have been lucky enough to find. The book is in large format (slightly larger than 8" x 11¼") and contains three fables on 32 pages. Each fable takes nine or ten pages to tell the story in one-page segments, with a few lines of prose complementing a large black-and-white cartoon. Each fable then adds one page for La Fontaine's original verse text. The first story is TB. Mega runs up the tree when he encounters the bear, and the bear follows him and tries to climb the tree. MSA is next. Again, the characters are named. The format is the same. The telling is faithful to La Fontaine and therefore different from most of the tradition. "Le Savetier et le Financier" is well represented by the two contrasting busts on the very first page of the story. Here Godillot (not "Gregoire") immediately digs a hole in the cellar for his new treasure. Why would we want a caveman and a dinosaur on the cover of this pamphlet? Perhaps the illustration is meant to echo the portrayal inside of the men who encounter the bear in the first story.

1943 Maître Aliboron. Textes Établis par Robert E. Llewellyn. Images de Jean Simard. Paperbound. Montréal: Fables de La Fontaine a Colorier: Les Éditions Variétés. $6 from Sam Yulish, Tucson, AZ, through eBay, Feb., '07.

Here is one of a set of six coloring books from during the Second World War which I have been lucky enough to find. The book is in large format (slightly larger than 8" x 11¼") and contains three fables on 32 pages. Each fable takes nine or ten pages to tell the story in one-page segments, with a few lines of prose complementing a large black-and-white cartoon. Each fable then adds one page for La Fontaine's original verse text. The first story is SS. Its human character is Bamboula, a Black wearing a fez. His mules are Bourriquet and Bourricot. As the salt dissolves, the fish think that they are in the sea! Several men aboard a sailboat rescue the drowning man and mule. The second story here is "L'Ane et le Chien." The dog Totoche wants some food out of the paniers of the ass Nicolas while their master takes a nap. The visual presentation of this story is unusual. All the characters are stuffed animals. The scene of the dead ass shows the stuffing of this stuffed animal pouring out. Nicely done! The final story here is "L'Ane ete ses Maitres." This story features the title-character and front-cover subject, Aliboron. Aliboron gets his respective wishes as his employers change from gardener to tanner to coal merchant. Jupiter will not listen to his prayer this time: "Curses on those asses who are never content with their daily lot!"

1943 Messire le Lion. Textes établis par Robert E. Llewellyn. Images de Jean Simard. Paperbound. Montréal: Fables de La Fontaine a Colorier: Les Éditions Variétés. $6 from Sam Yulish, Tucson, AZ, through eBay, Feb., '07.

Here is one of a set of six coloring books from during the Second World War which I have been lucky enough to find. The book is in large format (slightly larger than 8" x 11¼") and contains three fables on 32 pages. Each fable takes nine or ten pages to tell the story in one-page segments, with a few lines of prose complementing a large black-and-white cartoon. Each fable then adds one page for La Fontaine's original verse text. "Messire," I just learned, is archaic for "My Lord." The first story is "Le Lion s'en Allant en Guerre." The best visual presentation here, I would say, is the fox dressing up in a sheepskin. It is a surprise to me that the rabbits are couriers here by riding horses. Are they not fast enough on their own? The second story is "Le Lion et l'Ane Chassant." I think that there is still some of this fable's meaning that escapes me. The final story here is "Le Lion Devenu Vieux."

1943 Renard, le Goupil. Textes établis par Robert E. Llewellyn. Images de Jean Simard. Paperbound. Montréal: Fables de La Fontaine a Colorier: Les Éditions Variétés. $6 from Sam Yulish, Tucson, AZ, through eBay, Feb., '07.

Here is one of a set of six coloring books from during the Second World War which I have been lucky enough to find. The book is in large format (slightly larger than 8" x 11¼") and contains three fables on 32 pages. Each fable takes nine or ten pages to tell the story in one-page segments, with a few lines of prose complementing a large black-and-white cartoon. Each fable then adds one page for La Fontaine's original verse text. "Goupil," I learn, is archaic for "fox." The first story is "Le Renard, le Loup et le Cheval." The cover picture of a fox painting a picture comes from this story, since the young fox here, Pancrace, would like to paint his wolf friend Arthur a picture of the marvel that he has just seen for the first time, namely a horse. The second story here is "Le Renard, le Singe et les Animaux." This story has fun with a literal reading of the question "Whom does the royal crown fit best?" The monkey gets the crown by maneuvering through it. The last story is "Le Renard et les Poulets d'Inde." This story talks about turkeys. As this version understands the fable, the fox catches the turkeys' attention and keeps it by doing a number of tricks and amusements. Sometimes the turkeys lean a little bit too far to see what he is doing beneath them, and then they lose their equilibrium and fall--and become his victim. La Fontaine says only that the birds were in the course of time bedazzled. Over-attention to danger leads one to fall a prey to it!

1943 Trotte-Menu. Textes établis par Robert E. Llewellyn. Images de Jean Simard. Paperbound. Montréal: Fables de La Fontaine a Colorier: Les Éditions Variétés. $6 from Sam Yulish, Tucson, AZ, through eBay, Feb., '07.

Here is one of a set of six coloring books from during the Second World War which I have been lucky enough to find. The book is in large format (slightly larger than 8" x 11¼") and contains three fables on 32 pages. Each fable takes nine or ten pages to tell the story in one-page segments, with a few lines of prose complementing a large black-and-white cartoon. Each fable then adds one page for La Fontaine's original verse text. The expression "trotte-menu" is worked into each story. Does it mean something like "take-out" or "food on the run"? The first story is TMCM. True to La Fontaine, this fable begins with the town rat's invitation to the country rat to visit. The two are Ratin and Rateau, respectively. The latter drives a car into town. The artist makes use of the "double dimensionality" of his conception by showing the two eating a fancy meal, while huge cheeses and desserts loom in the background. The last image is strong: the car departs out of the picture right while a sign "Ville" points left. The second story here is "Le Rat et l'Huitre." The wanderer here is dressed up like a hiking boy-scout. He is a victim of both curiosity and appetite for food as he approaches the oyster. The third story is "Le Rat et l'Elephant." The story does a great job of filling out the mental processes of this rat. "Ce Rat se prenait pour quelqu'un." You bet! "Le Rat comprit alors, mais trop tard, qu'un éléphant est plus qu'un Rat." The story here applies the fable to children who think that they can do things better than adults.

1943 Verte, La Grenouille. Textes établis par Robert E. Llewellyn. Images de Jean Simard. Paperbound. Montréal: Fables de La Fontaine a Colorier: Les Éditions Variétés. $6 from Sam Yulish, Tucson, AZ, through eBay, Feb., '07.

Here is one of a set of six coloring books from during the Second World War which I have been lucky enough to find. The book is in large format (slightly larger than 8" x 11¼") and contains three fables on 32 pages. Each fable takes nine or ten pages to tell the story in one-page segments, with a few lines of prose complementing a large black-and-white cartoon. Each fable then adds one page for La Fontaine's original verse text. The first story is OF. Her sister Anne gets an old pump to blow Verte up after she has seen Bourru, the old steer of the farm. The artist does a good job of making Verte into a ball with small protruding hands and feet. That is our view just before she explodes. The second story is FM. This is a story of romance. The rat Théodule meets Flora, an American frog, on vacation at the oceanside, where she has just come out of the water to sunbathe. From the start, she is a bad frog and wants to bring him to the bottom of the water--and to eat him. Those Americans! This representation of "Americans" is more surprising in that these books were made in Canada. As Flora drags him down thrashing, the fish are astounded to see the two swim together. The bird of prey is flying an airplane with a rope and hook; he notices Théodule thrashing about and hooks him. The last picture is of the aristocratic bird eating both rat and frog. FK is the last story here. It comes up just short of La Fontaine's finish, as the complaining frog surprisingly repeats his earlier complaint about a do-nothing king and receives no answer. It seems as though two creatures ate their way into the pages of this pamphlet.

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