"Nuit de chance," an illustrated book by Sarah Cheveau

Sarah Cheveau was born in France and currently resides in Brussels, where she moved after her studies at the École de Recherche Graphique, focusing on illustration, engraving, and video. She also holds a teaching degree in Art, which led her to teach for several years while offering numerous workshops aimed at young audiences. As a member of the Cuistax collective, which publishes an eponymous children's magazine, she has published several children's books: "Sissi" with Albin Michel Jeunesse, "1,2,3 Marelle à doigts" with Thierry Magnier, and "Popcorn" with Les Grandes Personnes. These books offer fun activities while redefining the potential of the book as an object. 

"Nuit de chance" takes us on an adventure in a nocturnal forest populated with strange creatures. This journey invites young readers to discover trees, thickets, animal tracks, and the silhouettes of the forest's various inhabitants. A hare, a squirrel, a badger, a family of deer, a fox, and suddenly... a gigantic wild boar, whose initially alarming appearance culminates in a poetic face-to-face encounter. Beyond its very aesthetic and minimalist story, "Nuit de chance" also includes a herbarium, a wood essence color chart, and a tutorial on how to make charcoal. This encourages readers to try out this incredibly rich technique themselves. 

"I wanted to go into the forest to find charcoal, cut segments, and transform them into drawing charcoal," explains Sarah Cheveau about "Nuit de chance," before returning to the forest through the story to "rediscover the forest through drawing." This recipe can be found in "Nuit de chance," accompanied by a color chart that shows how different types of wood, once cooked and burned, produce various contrasts that can be used for drawing. Sarah Cheveau is committed to sharing her research with her young readers, whether through workshops or ready-to-use books. 

"Nuit de chance" is part of the 2024 Pépites Selection, a partnership between the Institut français and the Salon du livre et de la presse jeunesse in Seine-Saint-Denis in Montreuil. This book, with its condensed narrative and dense storyline, is characterized by its attention to material and its various nuances. It also explores what different types of wood can tell us, a theme now set to reach a new international audience. This gives young readers worldwide the chance to encounter a mysterious wild boar with rough, luminous fur, far more friendly than its grumpy appearance might suggest.