AWARDS AND REVIEWS

★ Winner of the 2021 Prix Albertine Jeunesse for 6–8-year-old readers

"An irreverent and insightful modern fable about beauty, ugliness, the paths to acceptance, and how admiration hijacks our sense of self. ... The illustrations by Tallec lend the humorous story a lovely dimension of tenderness. Blob comes alive as a sensitive creature of contradictions—full of determination yet easily given to dejection, a living fable of ego and insecurity, easy to fault but also easy to love. ... Under Tallec’s subtle brush, we see a difficult realization dawn on Blob—privilege is bestowed largely by chance and little of actual substance separates the most fortunate from the least fortunate. There is something charmingly subversive about the very premise, as paradoxical as the idea of trying to fail at failure. There is also something profound in the questions it raises about our civilizational fascination with beauty and its counterpoint—what does it really mean to be ugly..." —Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

“Tallec's illustration style shines in this silly story through charcoal, paint, and pencil. The small format and the long paragraphs give it a chapter book feel while still being short enough to read aloud. The lack of moralizing is refreshing, and the story is well paced and amusing. […] A subtle and charming French import with a great sense of humor.” —Lisa Nowlain, Nevada County Community Library, School Library Journal

“An insightful tale about beauty and self worth. The illustrations are incredible with personality and humor oozing from the pages.” —The Reading Ninja

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