Catalan / Spain
Els gegants
(The giants)
Crusellas, Quim
(text)
Gubianas, Valentí
(illus.)
Barcelona: Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat (PAM), 2020. – [26] p.
ISBN 978-84-9191-105-0
Giant | Picture book
Reading age: 4+
White Ravens issue: 2021
It’s well known that dinosaurs disappeared from the Earth in part due to their large size. But who knows that giants faced a similar fate? In times long past they were gawked at yet also feared, because they caused literally giant problems for the much smaller-scaled world of human beings. Every double page of this picture book introduces a different kind of giant. For example, the Minuet Giant loved to dance, but reliably trampled on people’s feet in the process. The Sleep Giant’s tired body sometimes squashed people’s houses. The Giant of the Quiet Winds spread panic as her flatulence fogged up the better part of a village. The funny mini-portraits Quim Crusellas has created are effectively paired with Valentí Gubianas’s very colourful, lively pictures. One can see how unbelievably space-consuming and clumsy the giants were and that it is perhaps better they only live on in people’s stories. “Els gegants” is a very fun picture book to read out loud and to inspire inventing more giants! [JW]