Cast Away on the Letter A, a TOON Graphic, the first volume in the Philemon series, was published in the Fall of 2014. It received rave reviews, including:

 “In a market teeming with graphic-fantasy tales, this offering is remarkably imaginative and refreshingly different…Not since Carroll's Alice has there been such a marvelous and incredible adventure.”

--KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW - click for full review

“Halfway between the humorous near-realism of Tintin and the hallucinatory Little Nemo in Slumberland, the book will be very entertaining for kids.”  
                --ICv2 4 STAR REVIEW - click for full review 

"Philemon is my new favorite companion.  He's brave, resourceful, and knows what to do when attacked by a lamp."
                --Lemony Snicket

"A classic for absurdists of all ages!"
     --Art Spiegelman


"Fantastic, smart, mind-expanding reading!"
     --Jon Scieszka


"The best kind of comics: a boy, his talking donkey, nonstop escapades and funny drawings!
                --Jeff Smith

Our own Richard Kutner, the English translator of the Philemon books, discussed his working process. During translation, Kutner tackled the challenge of inventing English onomatopoeia, or sound effects, for the book. 

"When we first started working on the Philemon books, we got a huge kick out of the zany French sound effects," says cartoonist Myken Bomberger who was tasked with lettering the stories in English. "SCHKLORPF!” “What’s that?” "The sound of a clock rising out of the sand.” “Ah, yes, of course.” 

"Sound plays a big role in Fred’s eccentric universe so I tried to hew as close as possible to Fred's original choices for the shape, color, and composition of the letters," adds Bomberger.

An additional challenge of Philemon is to find the right dialogue for each character. Said Richard Kutner:

“I had to find dialogue that suited the characters and suited the time. I couldn’t have a teenager in rural France in the 60's saying ’Yo dude!’ ”

He also had to consider Philemon’s development as a character.

“You see his evolution as a character through the different books. He gets much bolder and much more courageous… As he moves through the adventures, he’s able to accept all the ambiguity without being so fearful of it. His boldness, I think starts when he fights the Wild Piano. His clothes change at that point: he's fitted for a set of tails to face the wild piano. And after that he seems to be much more confident.“

Baudry chimed in and related these challenges to the challenges he faced translating his own comic, Quai D'Orsay (which he wrote under the pseudonym Lanzac.)

“The thing was that in French we had invented totally new onomatopoeia. So the translator translated it into things that existed that could be audible for an American audience, and I told him, no, we should make up a new one. We spent hours and hours on the phone–he was in San Francisco–trying out various Germanic-sounding sound effects.”

He noted that in some ways, the translation is a better book, merely because the text was so deeply considered during translation.

“It’s really part of the culture, the way someone is. We had to change his language and militarize his language somehow to give him a more neat character… I learned a lot about English language, and it was so much fun… In the way you write in the original language, you just don’t pay the same amount of attention.”


Baudry then opened comments to the room, sharing what Philemon meant to him as a child, opening him to different realms of reality, some more accepted than others. Featuring fantastical settings like islands that are each a different letter in the words “ATLANTIC OCEAN” on the map, characters such as a talking donkey, a magician uncle, and a centaur butler, and references to everything from the Raft of the Medusa to the French Revolution, there’s plenty in Philemon’s journeys to draw in any reader. With such a broad array of influences, Baudry asked: "Do you feel that Philemon reflects your life?"

The answers were varied, but everyone, young and old, had something to say. Many felt that Philemon reflected their lives, or that Fred's whimsical and intelligent style drew them into the book more than they expected. They felt invited to play in the strange islands comprised of the letters of the words "Atlantic Ocean", and many found themselves examining their accepted realities. Comparisons were made to subjects as varied as Alice and Wonderland and medieval mythology, reflecting the broad array of references in the Philemon books.

One member related Philemon to American authors, remarking: “I found that the drawings remind me of Doctor Seuss,” while another brought up an untranslated of Fred’s works, L’histoire du Corbac aux Baskets. “This was my first exposure to Fred, and this was the extraordinary experience I had when I read it. I thought ‘Where did this come from?’ And your comments really explained to me what I was experiencing, before that I don’t think I really could have described it as well.”

TOON asked book club members what they thought of the talk and what comics they enjoyed reading growing up. Many had read other Bandes Dessinees, such as Tintin and Asterix, while some drew from classic American comics, such as Little Lulu, Archie, and Dennis the Menace. Everyone, young and old, felt that comics had played a strong role in their upbringing, and that Philemon was a rich and interesting series to read.

Afterwards, Kimberly Corliss, of the Albertine said this:

"I am excited about the prospect of graphic novels being used as educational tools  for visual and linguistic literacy and admire Richard Kutner’s work to promote their integration in the classroom."

Kutner has translated four of the Philémon series, two of which have already been published by TOON Books (Cast Away on the Letter A and The Wild Piano).  The third, The Suspended Castle, which he shared with the attendees, is coming out in October, and the fourth, The Impossible Voyage, is due to be published in 2016.

Have you read any of the Philémon books yet? How has Philémon affected you? What do you think of the French efforts to promote books (in supporting projects like the Albertine bookstore in the French Consulate building) and comics?

"Do you agree with Neil Gaiman about scaring children?  Any advice on the topic and/or other book recommendations for kids ages 7-12?"

Enter a comment below and you'll be entered to win the Hansel & Gretel  Collector's Edition.  The TOON team to select winner on December 5th!

Dear TOON Books:

I happen to be a big fan of Neil Gaiman and saw on his page yesterday that he had collaborated with you to do Hansel and Gretel. It occurred to me that you might like my daughter's story since it is really all about TOON Books.

By second grade my kid, Lucia still didn't know how to read. Her 1st and 2nd grade teachers told us not to worry, that it would "click" and it would all come to her. I knew she wasn't going to grow up not knowing how to read but it did make me worry that books didn't interest her, and that she would never find a real love for reading. This was really hard for my husband and I as we are both huge readers. 

None the less we relaxed... and waited.In October of her second grade year our school had the Scholastic Book Fair and she loved Little Mouse Gets Ready. She was interested in the book so I got it for her. She adored it and despite it having very few words to read we were still very proud that she was able to read anything at all. When I say she couldn't read, I mean she really couldn't read. Anything.

I have always loved graphic novels so I thought we should check out what other TOON Books there were. Maybe the pictures would help her understand what the words were---to help her make the connection. The next book I got her was Otto's Orange Day. It was the first book she ever read. And she read it hundreds of times. Here is a photo of the first time she couldn't get her nose out of a book. She walked all the way to lunch, 6 blocks away with Otto inches away from her face. She barely ate and just read it over and over again. It was her (and my) proudest moment.

As a thank you present to her 2nd grade teacher (public school in case you were wondering) we bought 5 copies of Ottos Orange Day and a bunch of other TOON Books for her to use in book groups. They are now part of her curriculum. We pretty much have every book that you guys came out with in or by 2011 and plan on keeping them forever. Lucia is in 5th grade now and is reading at at 6th/7th grade level but she still pulls out Otto's Orange Day to read under the covers when she is supposed to be asleep.

Lucia's love of reading began with a TOON Book. It grew on TOON Books.  I just wanted to say THANK YOU.

Amanda B. in Chicago, IL

P.S. Lucia named our dog Otto-- in Otto's honor and because he's orange.

This guest blog post is by Maria Walther, a first grade teacher at at Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School in Aurora, IL.  Learn more about Maria Walther at www.mariawalther.com and on Twitter @mariapwalther.

“I love Benny and Penny books, do we have any more?” It was January when I finally heard those words from Noah, one of my most reluctant first-grade readers. Luckily, I was able to answer, “Yes!” and we rushed right over to the graphic novel basket to gather the other books in the series. A graphic novel basket? In first grade? YES! and YES! Since I discovered that TOON comic books that are perfect for my primary-grade learners, I’ve hooked many readers who gravitate toward this genre. So, like all of the other genres I share with my students, I teach them what they need to know to successfully, and joyfully, read these books. 

When I introduce these books and/or highlight the strategies above, I project the book using a document camera so that the kids and I can interact with the text as I read aloud. An interactive read aloud of the book Benny and Penny in the Toy Breaker (Hayes, 2010) might begin this way:


Before Reading: “Today we’re going to read a different kind of book. It’s called a comic or graphic novel. Has anyone ever heard or read this type of book before? As we’re reading, I’m going to show you some strategies that will help you to better understand what is happening in the story. Let’s get started!”



Cover: “Let’s look at the cover. What do you notice?” [Draw students’ attention to the title and the illustration where all of the toys are broken and Benny’s looking at them with a magnifying glass.] “Can you figure out which character is Benny and which is Penny? What is Benny looking at with that magnifying glass? Who do you think Benny is talking about when he says, ‘He is back!’? Think about the title of the book. Hmmmm! I guess we better read on to answer those questions.”