Marie Dorléans is an award-winning children’s author and illustrator from France. She is the creator of The Blanket, The Prickletrims Go Wild and The Night Walk, which won the prestigious Landerneau Children’s Book Prize in 2019 and was named a New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book in 2021. She lives in Strasbourg, France.
We step inside her latest picture book The Blanket and take a look back at some of the stunning illustrations from her award-winning picture book The Night Walk as well as the quirky and striking The Prickletrims Go Wild.
The Blanket
Tommy is afraid of everything. He is afraid of wind, rain, cats, dogs, dragonflies, loud laughs… All of it.
One stormy night, Tommy wraps himself in a big red blanket and discovers that inside his knitted shield, he doesn’t feel so afraid anymore. So, he wears his blanket everywhere. He wears it at home, in the car, at school, in the playground… Everywhere.
Tommy starts to try new things, confident that nothing can hurt him. But his woolly armour has created a new barrier between himself and the world around him. Can he find a way to let go of his blanket and start living fully?
Quirky imagination and gentle humour weave their way through both the words and illustrations in this distinctive picture book about dealing with anxiety and learning to step outside our comfort zone.
Mama opened our bedroom door. “Come on, you two,” she whispered. “We need to go now, to get there on time.”
Excited, the sleepy family step outside into a beautiful summer evening. They’ve entered a night-time world, quiet and shadowy, filled with fresh smells and amazing sights. Is this what they miss when they’re asleep? What will they find in the dark landscape?
“Awash in nocturnal blue, Dorléans’s graphite pencil illustrations of a family of nighttime explorers evoke a luminous sense of wonder.” – The New York Times
This New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book is a celebration of the awe-inspiring power of the natural world.
“A clarion call to take time to smell the flowers – and to let yourself and your garden go a little wild.” – Kirkus Reviews
The Prickletrim family are very proud of their pristine garden, with its razor-straight edges, regulation-height lawn and perfectly shaped topiary. They LOVE nature – just so long as it is well ordered and properly managed. Then one day their long-suffering gardener quits and something extraordinary happens.
Free at last, the Prickletrim’s garden explodes upwards and outwards. As the garden invades every corner of their lives, the Prickletrims are forced to change. Can they GO WILD?
The Prickletrims Go Wild is a playful yet profound celebration of untamed nature, with beautiful, startling illustrations that burst across the page.
