Lisette's lie

oct 2020

Lisette and her little friend Bobbi have never really lied before. Why not try, just for fun? But who are they going to lie to? To the first animal that crosses their path: Popof, the elephant.
He asks them where they are going , and they answer... that they are going on holiday! To the mountains. The thing is that Popof decides to join them. So what do they do next?

One lie brings another, as everybody knows, and it ends up in a funny situation where Lisette and Bobbi start believing that it's all true. 

Age 3 and up
2020 L'école des loisirs, Paris
  in English by Gecko Press
Also in German, Dutch, Spanish, Chinese and soon in Japanese (July 2022)

A springtime fresh picture book about a good day out with friends-climbing mountains, swimming and singing-and the difference between storytelling and lies.

Lisette and her friend Bobbi the lizard have never told a lie. But they are eager to try-it might be fun! They tell Popof they are going for a trip to the mountains. When Popof decides to come too, they realise they'll have to make the mountain. A liar needs to improvise.

In this funny story about imaginative play with friends, Lisette's creativity and quick thinking make for a wonderful day out. Gently exploring the differences between storytelling and little white lies and the importance of good intentions, this picture book is ideal to read aloud with preschoolers. With illustrations that convey a range of mood and emotion, the animal friends are brimming with personality and childlike playfulness.

Valckx has a writing style that seems to revel in obliqueness and gentle surrealism. Financial Times. Catharina Valckx was born in the Netherlands and grew up in France with four sisters. She traveled back and forth between the two countries before settling down in Amsterdam.

New York Times- Jon Agge:
... Valckx’s prose is delightfully droll. Her characters may have feathers, a tail and a trunk, but they sound and act like children we know. The text is matched by vivid, loosely painted watercolors and the animals, limned in brisk black brush lines, exude charm....