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Joann Sfar




Title Creator Publisher Series Price
The Little Prince Joann Sfar, Antoine de Saint-Exupery Houghton Mifflin Harcourt $17.77
($19.99 list)
Littleprincesm
Read more and comment... 		Here's a risky artistic venture:  messing with a beloved children's classic.  However, The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, is over sixty years old now, and we have a suspicion that it is not as beloved by today's generation of parents as it once was, and, as a result, kids are in the dark about it's greatness.  So, bringing it back to life in graphic novel form does have a purpose, and we can't think of anyone better suited for the task than Joann Sfar, whose delicate and nuanced line, while quite different from Saint-Exupéry's, is nonetheless well suited to representing the  magical visions of childhood, as readers of his Sardine series already know.  A very European and quite boyish  boyhood is here, along with a fabulous, practically paradigmatic, fabrication of a father and son relationship that is a joy.  Take a look at this when you get a chance.  This is a great gift for someone.
Sardine in Outer Space #4 Joann Sfar, Emmanuel Guibert (:01) First Second Sardine in Outer Space $12.75
($13.95 list)
Sardine4
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Sardine in Outer Space Emmanuel Guibert, Joann Sfar (:01) First Second Sardine in Outer Space $13.50
($14.00 list)
Sardine1
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The Rabbi's Cat Joann Sfar Pantheon $19.75
($21.95 list)
Rabbiscatsm
Read more and comment... 		The latest entry in Pantheon Books' burgeoning graphic novel line, The Rabbi's Cat is a very European book about Jews, Arabs, cats and God set in pre-WWII Algeria, that centers on a Rabbi, his daughter and their (sometimes talking, sometimes not) cat.  Lushly illustrated and beautifully printed and bound in a large, full color, hardcover edition, this work is a fanciful and nostalgic recollection of a bygone era that successfully captures the gradual, deliberate pace and sumptuous feel of its characters' lives and by so doing reminds us of some of life's eternal verities. 
Klezmer, Book One: Tales of the Wild East Joann Sfar (:01) First Second $14.44
($16.95 list)
Klezmer1
Read more and comment... 		Yes, the entirety of the above list of full color graphic novels printed on heavy semi-gloss stock with French-flap softcovers has just landed on our shelves and they are creaking from the strain.  We would like to draw your attention especially to the first book of Joann Sfar's Klezmer series and American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang.  While the graphic style of these two works could not be more different -- Sfar's art is as loose, wild and impressionistic as Yang's is tight, sharp and controlled -- both of these titles contain equally solid and moving tales of minority ethnic identity:  in Sfar's case of Jews -- itinerant Klezmer musicians, to be exact --  in pre-WWII Eastern Europe; and in Yang's case of a Chinese community in California that focuses on the coming of age adventures of a self-conscious youth (some Copacetic customers may remember that we carried American Born Chinese during its original serialization in Yang's self-published B & W mini-comic version that was released over the last two or three years).
Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators Frédéric Boilet, Jiro Taniguchi, Joann Sfar, Kan Takahama and more ... Fanfare/Ponent Mon $22.50
($25.00 list)
Japan17
Read more and comment... 		Our friends at Fanfare/Ponent Mon -- who brought us that understated masterpiece, The Walking Man -- now bring us a fresh treat.  Initiated by the powers that be at the French Institutes and Alliances in Japan, who, along with the French Embassy, bankrolled the visits of nine French comics creators to Japan in order that they be inspired to create eight of the works we have here.  The other half -- eight more pieces -- were supplied by Japanese natives (one of whom, the editor, Frédéric Boilet, is a French ex-pat residing in Japan).  Together, these sixteen pieces provide a kaliedoscope of views of Japan today; and not just Tokyo.  This project was designed with a geographically broad view:  the entire country, from the southern tip at Amakusa to the northern metropolis of Sapporo, is on display here.  Creators include manga master Jiro Taniguchi (author of the aforementioned masterwork, The Walking Man), Joann Sfar, of The Rabbi's Cat fame, François Schuiten & Benoît Peeters, Kan Takahama, Fabrice Neaud, Little Fish, Aurélia Aurita and nine others.  This is an excellent anthology of comics work at the same time as it is an engaging cultural survey.  Of equal interest to readers of contemporary comics work and students of Japan, this is a sure fire must have for anyone who is both.
Sardine in Outer Space #2 Emmanuel Guibert, Joann Sfar (:01) First Second Sardine in Outer Space $12.75
($13.95 list)
Sardine2
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The Rabbi's Cat 2 Joann Sfar Pantheon $20.00
($22.95 list)
Rabbiscat2
Read more and comment... 		Hey, here's a swell surprise:  another fine hardcover edition continuing the series of elegantly eloquent tales set among the Jewish diaspora in the French inflected culture of northern Africa, centered in Algiers, and taking place during the more innocent days of the 1930s.  The eternal mysteries of love, faith, ritual and nature are probed with a delicate and nuanced touch in the 130, lush, full color pages of this hardcover volume.  A real treat.  Get a nice sneak preview, here.
Little Vampire Joann Sfar (:01) First Second $12.75
($13.95 list)
Littlevampsm
Read more and comment... 		Vampires.  Little vampires.  A cute li'l blood-sucker doing his thing in a big book full of full color comics.  Little vampire, little vampire, won't you come out and play. What more can be said, which is more or less a sort of follow up (prequel?) to Sfar's earlier Vampire Loves, which presents the gambollings of a moody adolescent vampire. It seems the world just can't get enough of vampires.  Here's the comic that dares to ask the question, "Can vampires be cute?"To help you decide the answer, here's a preview. It's cute!
Sardine in Outer Space #3 Emmanuel Guibert, Joann Sfar (:01) First Second Sardine in Outer Space $12.75
($13.95 list)
Sardine3
Read more and comment... 		This surprise hit series from France continues with more hi-jinx, outer space and under sea adventures that kids everywhere can't get enough of. Pirates! monsters! battles! crazy machines! jazz! spankings! (spankings?) It's all here in dazzling full color in a tidy, French-flapped volume.
The Professor's Daughter Joann Sfar, Emmanuel Guibert (:01) First Second $15.25
($16.95 list)
Professor_daughter
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