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Children's Fiction Friendship

Gustave

by (author) Remy Simard

illustrated by Pierre Pratt

translated by Shelley Tanaka

Publisher
Groundwood Books Ltd
Initial publish date
Sep 2014
Category
Friendship, Emotions & Feelings, Mice, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, etc.
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781554984527
    Publish Date
    Sep 2014
    List Price
    $16.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781554984510
    Publish Date
    Oct 2014
    List Price
    $18.95

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Where to buy it

Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 4 to 7
  • Grade: k to 2
  • Reading age: 4 to 7

Description

A little mouse and his friend, Gustave, go out to play one afternoon in this darkly comic story about the sadness of losing a friend and the joy of making a new one.

The mouse’s mother has always warned the young friends not to stray too far from home. There is a cat, she says, and it is dangerous to go far away.

But danger doesn’t stop this curious pair, and soon they find themselves face-to-face with their big blue-eyed enemy. In a feat of bravery, Gustave allows his friend the chance to escape — but is gobbled up by the cat in the process. Heartbroken, the little mouse must return home — without his friend — and tell his mother what has happened.

A sweet surprise ending turns this melancholy tale of friendship into a strangely funny book.

 

About the authors

 

RÉMY SIMARD est une figure importante du monde québécois de l’édition. Il est à la fois bédéiste, illustrateur et auteur d’albums et de romans pour la jeunesse. Il a aussi dirigé une maison d’édition consacrée à la bande dessinée avant de travailler comme directeur de collection jeunesse. Rémy vit à Montréal, au Québec.

 

Rémy Simard has illustrated many books for children. He is also the author of a series of graphic novels which is being adapted for television. Rémy has been shortlisted for a Governor General’s Award and is well known and regarded for his comic style. He lives in Montreal, Quebec.

 

Remy Simard's profile page

Pierre Pratt's profile page

SHELLEY TANAKA is an award-winning author, translator and editor. She has written more than twenty books for children and young adults, winning the Orbis Pictus Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the Science in Society Book Award and the Information Book Award, and she has twice been nominated for the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis. Other honors include Texas Blue Bonnet runner-up, School Library Journal Best Books, ALA Notables and IRA Young Adults’ Choice. Her translation of Michel Noel’s Good for Nothing won the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People and was on the IBBY Honor List (Commended). Shelley teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts, in the MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Kingston, Ontario.

 

Shelley Tanaka's profile page

Editorial Reviews

A darkly comic story. . . . Gustave is a marvellous marriage of text and illustration.

CM Magazine

No artificial sweeteners here: the fear is real, but so is Mommy’s ability to make things better . . . at least for now.

BookDragon

Some readers, taking a longer view, will find Simard’s parody of a child’s sense of crisis downright funny.

Publishers Weekly

Uncompromisingly honest . . . Strikingly illustrated in a painterly style reminiscent of Whistler's nightscapes.

Kirkus Reviews

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