Anna and Froga by Anouk Ricard
In the fifth instalment of the funny contemporary children’s classic by Anouk Ricard, Anna, Froga, Ron, Christopher, and Bubu carry on their non-adventures with squabbling, browbeating, cajoling, and sincere friendship. A white lie is never kept a secret, and no tiny mistake is ever hidden. A vampire with exceptional Scrabble skills moves in next door, the group decides to skip the malls this Christmas and make their own gifts for each other, Bubu goes on a retreat to lose some weight and connect with his zen side, and the five friends take an unforgettable trip to Paris where they stay in a tiny apartment. Rarely is friendship depicted as truthfully and adorably as it is in Anouk Ricard’s comics.
Anna and Froga by Anouk Ricard
11 used from $1.59
Amazon.com
- Anna and Froga: Out and About
- ABIS BOOK
- Drawn & Quarterly
The French artist Anouk Ricard, who created Anna and Froga, is also a published painter. She has worked with a variety of media, and while this book is intended for children, it is also a very engaging, endearing, and serious tale for adults. Her painting style is very similar to that of this book. Or, to put it another way, it is the modern children’s book that I enjoy reading to actual children the most.
In her story about a group of pals who are neither children nor grownups, she combines a certain level of sophistication and brightness with a more understated approach. A person is one among them, followed by a dog, a cat, a worm, a frog, and a dog. They belong to the so-called “funny animal” comic book subgenre, which implies that despite having animal faces, they behave like people. Both her artwork and her discourse have an openness and a porousness that is very appealing to children as well as to adults.
