Nothing At All

An ecological tale significantly questioning the relationship between man and his environment, and the balance between cities and nature.

In the beginning, there was nothing at all. Of course, there were a few trees, here and there. But that was almost nothing. Here, there were birds perched in the branches, a fox, and a few rabbits... Next to nothing. Over there, there was a pond, a river, and even a heron that used to fish from time to time. Nothing less. After all, that was already a lot. But, to Mister C, it was not enough. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing at all.

In this book, “nothing” and “everything” are a matter of perspective. The cleverly built story revolves around the word “nothing”, repeated like a song, to help to see the world from a higher view.

The illustrations were made using carved wooden pieces, an ancient Chinese technique. The shapes were hand-printed, then scanned to compose the images digitally.

 

 

THE AUTHOR

 

Julien Billaudeau was born in Tours in 1983. He is a graduate of the École Estienne and the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Since then, he has illustrated around fifteen picture books and non-fiction books for children, including a book about Louis Pasteur who won a Bologna Ragazzi Award Special Mention in 2018.

 

He illustrates for the press, posters and book covers. He is particularly interested in printing techniques such as wood engraving and screen printing, which inspire him to create images in which shapes and colours overlap and blend. He also runs workshops in which experimentation with graphic design plays an important role.