Bertold

Bertold

Jacques Goldstyn

Original Title
L'arbragan
Published
La Pastèque, 2014
Genre
Picture books
Pages
80
Rights Sold
Korean
World English
Spanish
Catalan
Simplified Chinese
Turkish
Russian
Persian
Italian
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Bertold

Jacques Goldstyn

Jules feels different from the people he sees around him. He, for one, likes to wear two different gloves, and enjoys doing things by himself. He is most comfortable amidst the branches of Bertolt, a 250 year-old oak Jules calls his own. Hidden behind the tree’s leaves, he can play Tarzan and watch the world unfold. But that spring, when he finds Bertolt naked of the tiniest bud, he has to face the fact: the tree is dead. But Jules has a lot of imagination, and using it he will manage to give his green friend a new life.

 

Books by Jacques Goldstyn

000
Press voices
"Crowning the canon of arboreal allegories is Bertolt by French-Canadian geologist-turned-artist Jacques Goldstyn -- the uncommonly tender story of an ancient tree named Bertolt and the boy who named and loved it. From Goldstyn's simple words and the free, alive, infinitely expressive line of his illustrations radiates a profound parable of belonging, reconciling love and loss, and savoring solitude without suffering loneliness."-- Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

"Humor, contemplation, and masterful illustrations."-- STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus Reviews

"A lovely look at introversion, imagination and the power of being different and embracing it."--Waking Brain Cells

"Goldstyn manages to convey a world of emotions in his detailed drawings, and captures the feelings of childhood--both its playfulness and imagination, as well as the sense of smallness that comes with being a child in a world of adults."-- Bernie Goedhart, Postmedia

"It is an intimate book that implores you to read it in hushed tones with quiet pauses. Its sadness holds beauty; its sweetness never threatens to become saccharine. Bertolt is a truly exceptional exploration of ephemerality."-- Serah-Marie McMahon, STARRED REVIEW, Quill & Quire

"Goldstyn's playful prose is similarly nuanced, alternating between humor, palpable admiration for the natural world, unflinching honesty, and in the story's final spreads, no words at all. Reworking notions of both loss and what it means to be alone, this is an imaginative, introspective, and quietly profound paean to life's little wonders."-- Briana Shemroske, STARRED REVIEW, Booklist
Awards
Youth Award booksellers of Quebec 2015 (6-11 years category)
TD Prize for Literature for Children and Young People 2016
Montréal Youth Libraries Prize
Sorcières Bookseller’s Prize 2016