A Strong Belief in Wicker: Oops!

I love picture books in translation. It's such a window into a non-English speaking world. The stories and images other cultures share with their young are often quite different from those we use. It's a fascinating insight, and they're usually great books.

I was searching my local library catalogue for 365 Penguins, the more famous book by Jean-Luc Fromental and Joelle Jolivet, which they used to have, but sadly seems to have disappeared when I found Oops listed. So I checked it out.

Outrageously large format in the way of 365 Penguins. Again with bright eye-catching colourful illustrations. A Parisian family is trying to get to the airport to go on holidays to Djerba. Where? Djerba. An island off the Tunisian coast. It seems Tunisia is a big holiday destination for French tourists, although political turmoil can upset holiday plans.

Our family are preparing to leave their Parisian apartment to go to the airport. Shortsighted Aunt Roberta is going to housesit while they are away, so she can look after the turtle and hamsters. Except she drops the soap out of the bathroom window and causes a rather catastrophic chain of events.

Oops! is a most Parisian book. Texting taxi drivers.

Traffic jams.

They appear to have captured our
last taxi ride in from CDG

Metro strikes. The family travel by velib, metro and sewer! They pass by Tuileries, the Seine and Le Tour Eiffel all in their mad dash to catch their flight.

The illustrations are the sort of fun, detailed packed images that attract a young child's attention, they will pour over them for hours, and the book will become a favourite.