My Favorite Picture Books: The Mile End Kids Stories by Isabelle Arsenault
Read about the trilogy and my gushing of all things Isabelle Arsenault
Dearest readers,
Happy Monday to you! I know, I know. Monday, am I right? To help you with your Monday blues I’m writing to you about three brilliant books!
Since I’ve only just started this newsletter you haven’t yet learned of my love of Isabelle Arsenault. Let’s just say, if I could pick only one illustrator to meet in the whole, big wide world, it would be her. The first time I saw her work in The Cloth Lullaby I was undone by its beauty. She’s a fabulous artist-writer living in Montréal. You can find her here on Instagram. Many of her posts are in French, so plan on using that handy translation button! She’s been a favorite of mine for quite a while. Her line work, her choice of color, her compositions, her characters. I could gush on and on and on…..
But since I know we all like visuals, here are some of my favorite illustrations of hers:
GOR. GEOUS. Spectacular.
Right?
Isabelle often uses a very limited palette (which by now you must know I love) and works traditionally with any combination of ink, gouache, watercolor and graphite. My favorite medium she uses is graphite. Her pencil lines are incredible. Loose, active, and, well, perfect. She knows exactly where to add lines, and just as importantly, when to leave them out.
If I ever get to meet her, here are a few questions that I would ask:
How do you choose your colors?
What does your process look like from sketch to final art?
Can I be your best friend?
Now let’s get into the books that I’d like to talk about today! She wrote a trilogy called the Mile End Kids Stories. They’re about a little neighborhood with houses all packed close together, naturally bringing about friendships between the kids. You’ll see the same characters in each book, with the main character changing every time. It’s fun to spot them within each story! These are my copies:
The first is titled Colette’s Lost Pet, published by Random House Children’s Books in 2017.
This is the story of a new kid on the block, who wants a pet but her parent will not allow it. (So mean!) She ends up meeting kids around the neighborhood and telling them she has lost her pet parakeet, Marie-Antoinette. As the gang grows larger, what started as a fib turns into a outrageously silly story of her bird being larger than a house and carrying her all over the world. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s probably my favorite of the trilogy!
The second in the series is Albert’s Quiet Quest, published in 2019. As you can see, she is a master of the limited color palette. Orange, teal and pencil? Yes please! Take me to this ocean now!!!
Okay there is A LOT going on in this illustration. Let me explain what’s happening. You see, Albert wants to spend his day leisurely reading his book (I’ve been there), but those darn kids in the neighborhood just want to play with him, be around him, and overall make a giant racket. Basically, it’s my life with 3 boys at home, so I get where Albert is coming from. It ends sweetly with a funny joke. My favorite kind of picture book ending.
The third in the series is Maya’s Big Scene, published in 2021. Now, if you scroll back up to the photo of the covers above you can basically guess what Maya is all about. She wants to be. in. charge. Anyone know one of those kids growing up?? She’s bossy, she’s got a vision, and she will get there no matter the cost. But the other kids just aren’t having it. What will happen? Well, get the book and find out!
I love these books so much, not just for the style of illustration, but because they are so relatable. Have you ever felt like the new kid? Or just wanted a little quiet but couldn’t get it? Or have someone boss you around? Or maybe you were the kid who bossed others around. The characters are each of us, and our kids. Picture book mastery is when the reader can see themselves within the pages, which is exactly what Isabelle does.
I also love that it’s a graphic novel-esque picture book. I was recently talking to an art director at a publishing house who told me that GN PB’s are becoming more popular. Well, give me all of them! Or publish one of mine! (Knock, knock Big 5! Here I am!)
I’ll be back with more Isabelle Arsenault love, because there’s so much more to share! She’s illustrated a couple of graphic novels, written by Fanny Britt that I’m really excited to show you all! But if you’d like to buy the trilogy, you can purchase all three books in one here.
Also, because I love the undercovers (I don’t actually know the technical term, but I feel like I probably should) here’s what they look like. Sorry for the crazy saturation. I forgot to edit this photo and I’m too lazy to do it now.
Much love for reading always,
Katie
P.S. Do you like my new rug under the books in the photos? I just got it for my birthday, which is on Saturday!
Feeling a very deep kinship with you at the moment as she is quite possibly my favorite illustrator, as well. When I started making picture book recommendations several years ago Just One Little Light was my first book shared.
(If you’re following along you asked in the chat what we were all doing today and I’ve promptly abandoned the illustrations I was prepping to read through your entire back catalog of Substack posts. Bravo and I’m so glad you’re sharing your journey this way. I’m also glad you just started recently or I’d never get back to job at hand!)