HEADLINER

Publisher Actes Sud Jeunesse
Publication Date 12 January 2022

Children's Books

LOVE HAS DISAPPEARED

A children’s novel full of caring and consideration. Rights sold to Vietnam.

In this novel, Amour, the family cat, has disappeared. Edith, the daughter, is forced to take matters into her own hands because her parents spend all their time arguing. But while they are out searching for the cat, they make amends. Will they eventually find (Love) again?


The worst-case scenario for any cat lover like Edith is her parents telling her: "Love is gone." Love is the family cat. 
"A white cat with dark orange patches, and with light orange on the end of its paws, muzzle and tip of its tail. As though they had been dipped in pumpkin soup when it was young," explains Edith, still in shock: "When they told me, my eyes teared up, I swallowed and, in a shaky voice, I asked: Since when? It's been four days," Dad replied. (...) I took several deep breaths. I needed to hold it together."

Faced with powerless and angry parents, young Edith is forced to take matters in hand. She sets out to methodically search first the house room-by-room, then every corner of the garden, and if necessary, the neighborhood streets, one-by-one. The atmosphere is tense but when the search leads her parents to the square where they exchanged they had their first kiss, their mood changes and little-by-little happiness returns to the family dynamic.

"We were seduced by the author’s subtle way of making this tale of love about a lot more than a lost cat... A short, fun, lively story that is fast paced like a police procedural with a young heroine taking the lead," explains François Martin, editor of children's novels for Actes Sud. 

The French press was also charmed by this finely written and family chronicle full of hope: "Love may go away, but it can come back at any time, is what this humorous, fun, mischievous yet tender tale tells us," summarizes Livres Hebdo. Magali Bardos’ delicate curved illustrations add to this mischievous adventure, says Johanna Brock, head of foreign and merchandising rights at Actes Sud jeunesse, who has sold the rights in Vietnam. 

Initially introduced in Actes Sud Jeunesse’s English foreign rights catalogue and then at the Bologna Book Fair in 2022, "this novel’s love theme is its appeal. The author, Cédric Ramadier, is well-known for many works and especially for those in collaboration with illustrator Vincent Bourgeau. They have created about twenty albums together to date."
 
Targeted at children 8+, Amour a disparu is part of the collection SOLO of illustrated novels for children starting to read on their own. "The collection has a very carefully designed format in terms of font, line spacing and justification and there is no word hyphenation so as to facilitate autonomous reading. The plots are divided into chapters to set a rhythm and allow for breaks. We have translated the brochure for the collection into English, and the rights for several titles have already been sold, most notably to South Korea and China," says Johanna Brock, who is always looking for new buyers.

Katja Petrovic and Johanna Brock
February 2023