Books

Chapiteau (2012)

Authors : Jean-Léonard de Meuron, Véronique Peccoud

Editor : Éditions courtes et longues

Number of pages : 44

In this circus, the star is the clown. But one morning, he can't find his red nose. And without a red nose, the audience doesn't like him anymore. So the clown goes in search of his nose... His son tells us about the despair of the troupe, the disillusionment of everyone and the inevitable closure of the circus.

Until his little brother sees the magical key which brings the wonderful tent back to life! A simple, moving and exciting story that will delight parents and children alike. The text is both direct and poetic ; the illustrations are rich, colourful and subtle. And the whole is served by beautiful animations and marvellous pop-ups made by Arnaud Roi, author of Animalza. An eventful book for the end of year celebrations!

Clefs magiques: haïkus (2015)

Authors : Jean-Léonard de Meuron, Frédérique Lelous Delpech

Editor : Éditions courtes et longues

Number of pages : 24

« In the sad moments of life, there is always, somewhere around us, a magic key that allows us to transform what we are experiencing, to get out of it, to escape. » This is how Jean-Léonard de Meuron describes what feels good when nothing goes right. He gives us magic keys in the form of haikus, woven like the finest silk.

Sometimes hard-hitting, other times like a cuddle, these poems are like clouds in the sky, they take on the shape of the person giving them, and soothe. The leporello, this accordion book, a frieze book, serves these little moments of happiness wonderfully. The illustration, of a disconcerting finesse, of an incredible exoticism, gives a new dimension to each word. The pages that follow one another respond to one another and are magically organized to form a true world-book.

L'Étoile (2017)

Authors : Jean-Léonard de Meuron, Frédérique Lelous Delpech

Editor : Éditions courtes et longues

Number of pages : 28

The Sun and the Moon are the parents of this Star. Together with her sisters, the Star lives, laughs, cries, grows and blinks. But she feels that she is different, and that she is moving away from the others. The cold wind catches her : she gradually fades away.

Suddenly, one of her rays pierces the ice that covers her. She meets a star attracted by this call. Love is born between them and it is an explosion. At the Star's side, her whole family grows closer, shining and blazing, once again in unison, now accepting who she is.

Jean-Léonard de Meuron loves conjuring, clowns and Scottish dancing. His writing is like magical crystalline music: precise, touching and unique. Frédérique Lelous Delpech is an artist who practises engraving on a daily basis. She constructs her books as universes, with a technical complexity and aesthetic refinement that surpass anything seen in leporello publishing. Her work is collected in France and in Europe.