Why People Are Beautiful

Original title: Les gens sont beaux

Publication Date:

October 2022

Pages:

40

Original language and publisher

French | Les Arènes

Territories Sold

South Korea (Esoop)
Estonia (Varrak)
China (Beijing Science and Technology Publishing)
Spanish & Catalan (Hachette Heroes)
Italy (Rizzoli)
Turkey (Kelime)

Genre

Children's

Number of copies sold:

100,000

Awards:

  • Prix Landerneau album jeunesse 2023 (winner)

Why People Are Beautiful

Original title: Les gens sont beaux

Synopsis

A poetic, fair and luminous text. — Mademoiselle

This very beautiful book is a hand extended to every child. — Télématin

All kinds of bodies, all kinds of people

Baptiste Beaulieu is a general practitioner along with the other heroes in his story called “Papuan”. One beautiful morning, a retired man takes it upon himself to tell his grandson why people are beautiful…

“When I was a doctor I did see some bodies, I’m telling you. Injured bodies, twisted bodies, black
bodies, white bodies, thin bodies, fat bodies… I have seen bodies and all the stories that go with them. Bodies always have a story to tell.”

The premise of being a general practitioner is that you see all kinds of people and all kinds of bodies every day. People with an age, a story, features, marks and a body shape…And so, for Baptiste and the heroes of his album it’s important to reiterate that anatomy isn’t supposed to be fashioned by society; the human body doesn’t have a perfect model.

Perfection is you; it’s your life; it’s the body that you incarnate. This body is beautiful and it’s beyond reproach. Scoliosis, scars, rashes, portliness, dark circles, a certain hue…It’s normal, it’s part of life, it’s an intrinsic part of who you are, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of it.

Baptiste Beaulieu, via his character, tells stories about the people he meets in this album. Their bodies are who they are. He encourages us to understand that all of these people have stories to tell and that their bodies are intrinsically linked to them. Their “imperfections” are the traces of life.

Doctor, blogger and novelist Baptiste Beaulieu releases his first children’s book.

Marketing Information

  • English translation available.

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