''Le Petit Nicolas'' (Little Nicholas) is a series of
French children's books
A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...
created by
René Goscinny
René Goscinny (, ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the ''Astérix'' comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. Raised largely in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he attended French schoo ...
and illustrated by
Jean-Jacques Sempé
Jean-Jacques Sempé, usually known as Sempé (; 17 August 1932 – 11 August 2022), was a French cartoonist. He is known for the series of children's books he created with René Goscinny, ''Le Petit Nicolas'', and also for his poster-like illust ...
and it was first published on 30 March 1959. The books depict an idealized version of childhood in 1950s France.
History
The work started out as a comic strip, which initially ran in the Belgian magazine ''
Le Moustique'' between 1956 and 1958, drawn by Sempé and written by Goscinny. The series was quick to draw attention. A few years later Goscinny began to write Le Petit Nicholas in short story form, with illustrations by Sempé. The first Nicholas story, ''L’œuf de Pâques'', was published 29 March 1959 in the journal Sud-Ouest Dimanche. The authors hadn't initially planned to continue the series but the sudden popularity of the comic kept them going. Thus, they continued to publish the comics in
Sud-Ouest and
Pilote
Cover of the first ''Pilote'' issue #0
''Pilote'' () was a French comic magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as ''Astérix'', '' ...
until 1965.
Thirty years after Goscinny's death, his daughter Anne decided to publish his unreleased stories, creating new books out of ten stories. Sempé, who was unaware of this material, obliged by providing the illustrations.
The illustrations got turned into a feature film, ''Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be'' from France’s Foliascope and Luxembourg’s Bidibul Productions that comes out December 16, 2022. Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre (''I Lost My Body'') directed the feature based on the bestselling French children’s book series ''Le Petit Nicholas''.
Concept
The books are told from the point of view of Nicolas himself, which gives the book a distinct and personal sense of humour. The narration is a pastiche of childish storytelling, with run-on sentences and schoolyard slang used in abundance, and much of the humour derives from Nicolas' misunderstanding of adults' behaviour. At the same time, adults are as much a target of the book's satire as children, as the straightforward and uncomplicated worldview of the child narrator exposes the flaws of adult perception. This subversive element in ''Le Petit Nicolas'' made it an early example of modern children's literature that is centred on the experience of the child's interpretation of the world, rather than an adult's.
Characters
The characters from the French edition include (with names from
Anthea Bell
Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish. These include '' The Castle'' by Franz Kafka, '' Austerlitz'' by W. G. Sebald, the ''In ...
's English translation in square brackets):
* Nicolas (the main character)
icholas He is sensitive and attached to true values like friendship, love of one's parents, and has some sense of justice. He is not good at arithmetic and is the smallest in his class.
* Clotaire
atthew "He's bottom of the class. "
* Alceste
lex
Lex or LEX may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lex'', a daily featured column in the ''Financial Times''
Games
* Lex, the mascot of the word-forming puzzle video game ''Bookworm''
* Lex, the protagonist of the word-forming puzzle video ga ...
Nicolas' best friend, "he's fat and he eats all the time."
* Eudes
ddie "He's very strong and likes to punch our friends on the nose."
* Geoffroy
eoffrey "His dad is very rich and buys him everything he wants."
* Agnan
uthbert "He is ranked first in the class and is the teacher's pet and therefore nobody likes him, but you can't hit him as often as you'd like, because he wears glasses."
* Joachim
eremy He has a little brother.
* Maixent
ax He runs very fast because of his long legs.
* Rufus: "His father is a policeman, and he's got a cop's whistle."
* Marie-Edwige Courteplaque
ary-Jane Campbell "She's the very nice girl."
* Louisette
ouise The daughter of a friend of the mother of Nicolas; Nicolas decides he wants to marry her because she plays
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
well.
* Rex: A lost dog that Nicolas found; his real name is Kiki.
Other characters include Nicolas's parents, as well as teachers and administrators in the school. The teacher is hard-working and loves the children, although they usually exasperate her. The superintendent, Mr. Dubon (Mr Goodman), is known as "le Bouillon" ("Old Spuds"). Mr Billings (Mr Blédurt) is their next door neighbour, and likes annoying Nicholas' father.
The two main characters of another comic series by Goscinny, ''
Iznogoud
''Iznogoud'' (pronounced "he's/is no good" with a French accent) is a French comics series featuring an eponymous character, created by the comics writer René Goscinny and comics artist Jean Tabary. The comic series chronicles the life and tim ...
'', begin to take shape in the episode when Nicolas is in summer camp. He and the other children are forced to take a nap, so the counsellor tells them a story about ''"a
caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
who was a very good man but who had a very evil
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
..."'', then tells how the caliph dresses as a common man to find out what people think of him, and the evil vizier takes his place.
English edition
An English edition with the title ''Young Nicolas'' was completed by Stella Rodway for Hutchinson & Co. in 1961. It was published in the USA by Bobbs-Merrill in 1962. The characters' names retain the French form. The title page lists the authors simply as "Sempé and Goscinny".
An English edition of the series with anglicised character names was released in 1978, translated by
Anthea Bell
Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish. These include '' The Castle'' by Franz Kafka, '' Austerlitz'' by W. G. Sebald, the ''In ...
. This contained five volumes: ''Nicholas and the Gang at School'', ''Nicholas and the Gang Again'', ''Nicholas on Holiday'', ''Nicholas and the Gang'', and ''Nicholas at Large''. The first volume was republished with more complete illustrations in 2005 by Phaidon Press as ''Nicholas''. Four further volumes followed from Phaidon, as ''Nicholas Again'', ''Nicholas on Holiday'' (''Nicholas on Vacation'' in North America), ''Nicholas and the Gang'', and finally ''Nicholas in Trouble'' in 2008.
In this version, M. Dubon (nicknamed "le Bouillon") becomes Mr. Goodman (nicknamed "Old Spuds"). He derives his nickname from his habit of repeating constantly: "Look me in the eye." In French broth (bouillon) has eyes (blobs of fat on the surface), in the English version they become potato eyes. In the story 'Djodjo', the English exchange student becomes Flemish, and his nickname is changed from "Djodjo" to "Djocky".
Another English translation of ''Le petit Nicolas'', with the title ''The Chronicles of Little Nicholas'', was published in New York by Farrar, Straus Giroux in 1993. The translator is not named in this edition; the copyright page attributes copyright for the translation to Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
''Nicholas'' was the subject of a
Mildred L. Batchelder ''Honour'' for translated children's books in 2006 given by the Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, and ''Nicholas and the Gang'' received the same honour in 2008
English books
* ''The Chronicles of Little Nicholas'' (''Le petit Nicolas'')
* ''Young Nicolas'' (''Le petit Nicolas'')
* ''Nicholas Again'' (''Les récrés du petit Nicolas'')
* ''Nicholas on Holiday'' or ''Nicholas on Vacation'' (USA and Canada) (''Les vacances du petit Nicolas'')
* ''Nicholas and the Gang'' (''Le petit Nicolas et les copains'')
* ''Nicholas in Trouble'' (''Le petit Nicolas a des ennuis'')
Adaptations
* ''
Little Nicholas
''Little Nicholas'' (french: Le Petit Nicolas), also known as ''Petit Nicolas'' (UK), is a 2009 French-Belgian family comedy film directed by Laurent Tirard, who co-wrote with Grégoire Vigneron and Alain Chabat. It is based on a series of children ...
'' (''Le Petit Nicolas''), 2009 film
* ''
Le Petit Nicolas
''Le Petit Nicolas'' (Little Nicholas) is a series of French children's books created by René Goscinny and illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempé and it was first published on 30 March 1959. The books depict an idealized version of childhood in 19 ...
'', 2009 animated TV series
* ''
Nicholas on Holiday
''Nicholas on Holiday'' (aka ''Nicolas on Holiday'' (UK), french: Les Vacances du Petit Nicolas) is a 2014 French family comedy film directed by Laurent Tirard, starring Mathéo Boisselier, Valérie Lemercier, Kad Merad, Dominique Lavanant, Fran ...
'' (''Les Vacances du Petit Nicolas''), 2014 film
* ', 2021 film
* ''Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be'' ('), 2022 animated film
External links
Official site
Official site of René GoscinnyRotten TomatoesIMDbAmazon Video Listing
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petit Nicolas, Le
French children's novels
1959 novels
Book series introduced in 1959
French comic strips
1956 comics debuts
1959 comics endings
Child characters in comics
Child characters in literature
Male characters in comics
Male characters in literature
Comedy literature characters
Fictional French people
Humor comics
Children's comics
Slice of life comics
French novels adapted into films
French comics adapted into films
Children's books adapted into films
Comics adapted into novels
Comics adapted into animated series
Comics adapted into television series
Children's books adapted into television shows
French novels adapted into television shows
Works by René Goscinny
Comics set in France
Comics set in the 1950s
Comics set in the 1960s
Novels set in France
Novels set in the 1950s
Novels set in the 1960s
1959 children's books