Four Murdered At Jewish School In France

I am saddened to report the murder of a rabbi and three Jewish children by a gunman who attacked Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse, France today.

The victims were Rabbi Jonathan Sandler and two of his sons, Arye, 6, and Gabriel, 3 and the young daughter of the school principle, Miriam Monsonego, 8 (H"YD). Another student was critically wounded.

Rabbi Sandler and his family came to Toulouse from Jerusalem with his family just last September to teach religious studies at the school.

The killer simply rode up on a motor bike when the children were entering the school and started shooting at them, then left the same way. According to witnesses, the killer filmed the murders with a small video camera he had attached to this neck.

Both French President President Nicolas Sarkozy and his main rival for the presidency, Socialist François Hollande denounced the attack, and both of them broke off their political campaigns to rush to the scene.

Sarkozy called the murders a “national tragedy” and ordered a minute’s silence to be observed across France on Tuesday at 11 a.m. Special prayers were offered today at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

There is a tie in to other incidents in the same area.The attack comes days after three soldiers were killed and two wounded in two separate shootings, also by a man who escaped on a motorbike. All the soldiers were said to have just come back from fighting in Afghanistan. Forensics experts in France have matched the ballistics and feel that the same gun was used in all three killings.

ברוך אמנות אתה אדוני אלוהינוהשופט האמיתי

Four Murdered At Jewish School In France

I am saddened to report the murder of a rabbi and three Jewish children by a gunman who attacked Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse, France today.

The victims were Rabbi Jonathan Sandler and two of his sons, Arye, 6, and Gabriel, 3 and the young daughter of the school principle, Miriam Monsonego, 8 (H"YD). Another student was critically wounded.

Rabbi Sandler and his family came to Toulouse from Jerusalem with his family just last September to teach religious studies at the school.

The killer simply rode up on a motor bike when the children were entering the school and started shooting at them, then left the same way. According to witnesses, the killer filmed the murders with a small video camera he had attached to this neck.

Both French President President Nicolas Sarkozy and his main rival for the presidency, Socialist François Hollande denounced the attack, and both of them broke off their political campaigns to rush to the scene.

Sarkozy called the murders a “national tragedy” and ordered a minute’s silence to be observed across France on Tuesday at 11 a.m. Special prayers were offered today at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

There is a tie in to other incidents in the same area.The attack comes days after three soldiers were killed and two wounded in two separate shootings, also by a man who escaped on a motorbike. All the soldiers were said to have just come back from fighting in Afghanistan. Forensics experts in France have matched the ballistics and feel that the same gun was used in all three killings.

ברוך אמנות אתה אדוני אלוהינוהשופט האמיתי

UK's Cameron Vetoes Changes to EU Treaty..France And Germany Outraged

The efforts to save the eurozone took another body blow as UK PM David Cameron exercised, for the first time, the UK's veto over major changes to the Eu treaty France and Germany worked out.

The new changes amounted to “automatic consequences” for countries whose public deficit exceeds 3 per cent of gross domestic product and a cap on countries’ structural deficits at 0.5 per cent. The tighter rules would be also be entered in the individuals laws of member countries, and the 'consequences' would be enforced by the other 27 members.

This is a fairly shocking abandonment of national sovereignty, and the French in particular were originally not planning to agree with it. But Germany's Angela Merkel was able to get France's Nicholas Sarkozy to capitulate.

And then Britain threw a monkey wrench into the entire structure by vetoing it. That led to several other countries refusing to go along until they 'consulted with their parliaments', namely Denmark, Sweden, The Czech Republic and Hungary.

PM Cameron's main sticking point was that he wanted secure safeguards for the single market and the City of London's financial infrastructure, and France and Germany refused to provide them..

'There are some real problems and nonsense there in terms of having safe and secure financial services, some deep unfairnesses that are currently in the system that I feel badly need to be addressed,' he said.

'You've got everyone else in the room saying give up your national interests, just go along with what everyone else wants, that would be the easy, comfortable, convenient thing to do. But it wasn't the right thing to do, so you've got to stick to your guns.'

France's President Sarkozy was particularly incensed at this, perhaps because he had caved in to Germany's demands in the face of considerable political pressure not to.

'What was on offer is not in Britain's interest so I didn't agree to it,' Cameron told reporters in Brussels.

'We're not in the euro and I'm glad we're not in the euro.'

'We're never going to join the euro and we're never going to give up this kind of sovereignty that these countries are having to give up.'

Merkel and Sarkozy are essentially ignoring the UK's veto and announced their plans to go ahead with finalizing the agreement,which is due to be signed in March.While this huge alteration of the Lisbon Treaty should normally signal referendums in the individual countries,there's no sign that this is going to happen. José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president was quoted as saying that in his opinion,these difficulties could be "worked around."

In other words, they'll just impose it. Greece, Portugal,Ireland,Spain and Italy aren't going to squawk since they're in deep financial trouble and France and Germany are already on board,although it remains to be seen how long.

So why do these European shenanigans matter on this side of the pond? Well, among other things, thanks to President Obama, we're likely going to be footing the bill for a big chunk of the bail out cost.

Bypassing Congress,of course.

please donate...it helps me write more gooder!

UK's Cameron Vetoes Changes to EU Treaty..France And Germany Outraged

The efforts to save the eurozone took another body blow as UK PM David Cameron exercised, for the first time, the UK's veto over major changes to the Eu treaty France and Germany worked out.

The new changes amounted to “automatic consequences” for countries whose public deficit exceeds 3 per cent of gross domestic product and a cap on countries’ structural deficits at 0.5 per cent. The tighter rules would be also be entered in the individuals laws of member countries, and the 'consequences' would be enforced by the other 27 members.

This is a fairly shocking abandonment of national sovereignty, and the French in particular were originally not planning to agree with it. But Germany's Angela Merkel was able to get France's Nicholas Sarkozy to capitulate.

And then Britain threw a monkey wrench into the entire structure by vetoing it. That led to several other countries refusing to go along until they 'consulted with their parliaments', namely Denmark, Sweden, The Czech Republic and Hungary.

PM Cameron's main sticking point was that he wanted secure safeguards for the single market and the City of London's financial infrastructure, and France and Germany refused to provide them..

'There are some real problems and nonsense there in terms of having safe and secure financial services, some deep unfairnesses that are currently in the system that I feel badly need to be addressed,' he said.

'You've got everyone else in the room saying give up your national interests, just go along with what everyone else wants, that would be the easy, comfortable, convenient thing to do. But it wasn't the right thing to do, so you've got to stick to your guns.'

France's President Sarkozy was particularly incensed at this, perhaps because he had caved in to Germany's demands in the face of considerable political pressure not to.

'What was on offer is not in Britain's interest so I didn't agree to it,' Cameron told reporters in Brussels.

'We're not in the euro and I'm glad we're not in the euro.'

'We're never going to join the euro and we're never going to give up this kind of sovereignty that these countries are having to give up.'

Merkel and Sarkozy are essentially ignoring the UK's veto and announced their plans to go ahead with finalizing the agreement,which is due to be signed in March.While this huge alteration of the Lisbon Treaty should normally signal referendums in the individual countries,there's no sign that this is going to happen. José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president was quoted as saying that in his opinion,these difficulties could be "worked around."

In other words, they'll just impose it. Greece, Portugal,Ireland,Spain and Italy aren't going to squawk since they're in deep financial trouble and France and Germany are already on board,although it remains to be seen how long.

So why do these European shenanigans matter on this side of the pond? Well, among other things, thanks to President Obama, we're likely going to be footing the bill for a big chunk of the bail out cost.

Bypassing Congress,of course.

please donate...it helps me write more gooder!

The Eurozone Under The Gun: France And Germany At Odds

Saving the eurozone has come down to two countries, France and Germany. President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel are meeting today to try and craft a common proposal to save the eurozone and the EU,but their differences are fairly wide.

The Germans are desperate to preserve the eurozone because their economy depends on exports, and returning to the Deutschmark would create a rise in the prices of German products. On the other hand, German taxpayers are fed up with costly bailouts.

Merkel wants a 'federalized' eurozone to enforce budget discipline and to have euro zone states surrender the control of their budgets to a European authority with veto power and the ability to punish governments that step out of line.

France opposes this, and Sarkozy, with only five months to go before elections, is taking major criticism from his political opposition and the press over handing French sovereignty to unelected EU officials.

At that, a proposal along the lines of what the Germans want might necessitate a change in the EU treaty.

It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.

Meanwhile, Italy has joined Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal as another country whose debt is out of control and may need an EU bailout.

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The Eurozone Under The Gun: France And Germany At Odds

Saving the eurozone has come down to two countries, France and Germany. President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel are meeting today to try and craft a common proposal to save the eurozone and the EU,but their differences are fairly wide.

The Germans are desperate to preserve the eurozone because their economy depends on exports, and returning to the Deutschmark would create a rise in the prices of German products. On the other hand, German taxpayers are fed up with costly bailouts.

Merkel wants a 'federalized' eurozone to enforce budget discipline and to have euro zone states surrender the control of their budgets to a European authority with veto power and the ability to punish governments that step out of line.

France opposes this, and Sarkozy, with only five months to go before elections, is taking major criticism from his political opposition and the press over handing French sovereignty to unelected EU officials.

At that, a proposal along the lines of what the Germans want might necessitate a change in the EU treaty.

It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.

Meanwhile, Italy has joined Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal as another country whose debt is out of control and may need an EU bailout.

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With Friends Like These....

Michael Ramirez's Latest...

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With Friends Like These....

Michael Ramirez's Latest...

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The EU's Big Fat Greek Bailout

The EU leaders, led by Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and France's President Nicholas Sarkozy have reached a deal for a second Greek bailout.

The deal involves a new €130 billion bailout of Greece by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (which means American taxpayers are going to take a bite of this particular sandwich), and acceptance by current Greek bond holders of fifty percent of face value and a increase in the EU's bailout fund to over €1 trillion.

As Chancellor Merkel announced with a straight face, the goal of all this manipulation is to get Greece's debt down to - wait for it - a mere 120% of the country's gross domestic product by 2020.

President Sarkozy announced that he would hit up the Chinese to see if they're willing to pony up any cash to help in supporting the fund.

A number of details remain deliberately vague, which was probably the intent to get some kind of consensus and just try to muddle through somehow.

For example, under the terms of the deal, Greece agreed to pay €15 billion back into the EU's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility(EFSF). The money is supposed to come from additional revenues raised by a vast Greek privatization plan, which would see a lot of functions currently run by the government go into private management.Unfortunately, the international monitors have already reported that Greece isn't going to be able to come up with the €50 billion for the EFSF from privatization it already pledged earlier this year, and this new €15 billion is supposed to come on top of the money the Greeks have already been unable to pay back.

The most inadvertently hilarious quote on this particular item came from Yves Leterme, the Prime Minister of Belgium, a country not exactly noted for its sense of humor. When he was asked by reporters whether adding another €15 billion to Greece’s expected pay back to the bailout fund out of expected revenues from privatization was realistic when the Greeks couldn't come up with the €50 billion from privatization they'd already committed to, he replied: “This element was not a necessity for Belgium.”

Another interesting bit that promises future fireworks came from George Osbourne, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, the equivalent of America's Secretary of the treasury.He's claiming that Britain (which is already in financial straits) won't pay into the bailout fund out of its its IMF contributions. Moreover, he doubled down and is insisting that the IMF's mandate doesn't allow any cash to go into the bailout fund. Since there's no other place the money can conceivably come from except perhaps the Chinese, this is another of those little details that looks like it's being left to work out later.

Another problem with all this has to do with the internal problems of Greece itself.The EU has apparently realized belatedly that the country is one of the most corrupt in Europe, has a poisonous investment climate, a government fully prepared to cook the books and and little besides tourism as a source of revenue. So Chancellor Merkel is demanded the EU put what she describe as 'monitoring' in place to try and make some kind of order out of this.

"There will be a reinforced monitoring regime in connection with the fulfillment of the Greek obligations," she said.

"That will be anchored in a memorandum of understanding. There will be a permanent presence there. It will be possible to monitor the measures taken by Greece. I think that this is better than when every three months a 'troika' travels there and back, a permanent system of supervision."

Viel glück damit, Madame ReichsKanzler.

If this all seems like simply kicking the can down the road, I couldn't agree more. And that's going to become even more obvious when further bailouts are needed for countries like Spain, Ireland and Portugal, among others.

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The EU's Big Fat Greek Bailout

The EU leaders, led by Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and France's President Nicholas Sarkozy have reached a deal for a second Greek bailout.

The deal involves a new €130 billion bailout of Greece by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (which means American taxpayers are going to take a bite of this particular sandwich), and acceptance by current Greek bond holders of fifty percent of face value and a increase in the EU's bailout fund to over €1 trillion.

As Chancellor Merkel announced with a straight face, the goal of all this manipulation is to get Greece's debt down to - wait for it - a mere 120% of the country's gross domestic product by 2020.

President Sarkozy announced that he would hit up the Chinese to see if they're willing to pony up any cash to help in supporting the fund.

A number of details remain deliberately vague, which was probably the intent to get some kind of consensus and just try to muddle through somehow.

For example, under the terms of the deal, Greece agreed to pay €15 billion back into the EU's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility(EFSF). The money is supposed to come from additional revenues raised by a vast Greek privatization plan, which would see a lot of functions currently run by the government go into private management.Unfortunately, the international monitors have already reported that Greece isn't going to be able to come up with the €50 billion for the EFSF from privatization it already pledged earlier this year, and this new €15 billion is supposed to come on top of the money the Greeks have already been unable to pay back.

The most inadvertently hilarious quote on this particular item came from Yves Leterme, the Prime Minister of Belgium, a country not exactly noted for its sense of humor. When he was asked by reporters whether adding another €15 billion to Greece’s expected pay back to the bailout fund out of expected revenues from privatization was realistic when the Greeks couldn't come up with the €50 billion from privatization they'd already committed to, he replied: “This element was not a necessity for Belgium.”

Another interesting bit that promises future fireworks came from George Osbourne, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, the equivalent of America's Secretary of the treasury.He's claiming that Britain (which is already in financial straits) won't pay into the bailout fund out of its its IMF contributions. Moreover, he doubled down and is insisting that the IMF's mandate doesn't allow any cash to go into the bailout fund. Since there's no other place the money can conceivably come from except perhaps the Chinese, this is another of those little details that looks like it's being left to work out later.

Another problem with all this has to do with the internal problems of Greece itself.The EU has apparently realized belatedly that the country is one of the most corrupt in Europe, has a poisonous investment climate, a government fully prepared to cook the books and and little besides tourism as a source of revenue. So Chancellor Merkel is demanded the EU put what she describe as 'monitoring' in place to try and make some kind of order out of this.

"There will be a reinforced monitoring regime in connection with the fulfillment of the Greek obligations," she said.

"That will be anchored in a memorandum of understanding. There will be a permanent presence there. It will be possible to monitor the measures taken by Greece. I think that this is better than when every three months a 'troika' travels there and back, a permanent system of supervision."

Viel glück damit, Madame ReichsKanzler.

If this all seems like simply kicking the can down the road, I couldn't agree more. And that's going to become even more obvious when further bailouts are needed for countries like Spain, Ireland and Portugal, among others.

please donate...it helps me write more gooder!

Khaddaffi Dead : The Fall Of The Brother Leader

Libyan leader Moamad Khaddaffi was killed this morning, fighting to the last as his final stronghold in Sirte was taken by the rebels.He'd been in power for 44 years.

National Transitional Council (NTC) Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril announced the death at a news conference this morning in Tripoli.

Jibril said NTC forces were now pursuing Saif al-Islam, Col Khaddaffi's most prominent son, who fled Sirte in a convoy before Sirte fell. He's probably the last major Khaddaffi loyalist still at large.

Jibril also called for neighboring Algeria to turn over the members of KHaddaffi's family who fled there in August to revolutionary justice. Two of KHaddaffi's younger sons, his daughter and his wife are in the country.

"A new Libya is born today," Mahmoud Shammam, the chief spokesman of the Transitional National Council, said today in a statement. "This is the day of real liberation. We were serious about giving him a fair trial. It seems Allah has some other wish."

Apparently so.

British and French leaders hailed the of Khaddaffi's death and the preservation of those lucrative oil contracts they signed with the rebel forces.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the death a major step forward for the people of Libya and urged the pursuit of democratic reforms.

"The disappearance of Moamer Kadhaffi is a major step forward in the battle fought for more than eight months by the Libyan people to liberate themselves from the dictatorial and violent regime imposed on them for more than 40 years."

William Hague, Britain's Foreign Secretary said: "When the uprising began, we didn't know how long this would take. I think we feel vindicated all along as the country is now free to become a free and fair democracy. We are very pleased that with Khaddaffi has been removed. There is work to be now to stabilise Libya and bring together separate militias under the control of one governemnt. Once the liberation is declared then there's 30 days to form a transitional government. We should be on the optimistic side, but should not rule out further problems.

It could be a long job for the UK and our allies, but not so much a military job now. Tripoli is not Baghdad."

In other words, count on a lot more of your tax dollars going for nation building before the nature of Libya's new government is actually known.Actually, the odds on an Arab state being established in Libya that's actually free and democratic are incredibly long ones, but the oil will start flowing,which is all the British and French ever were concerned about in the first place.

After all, they didn't care a fig about 'democracy' when they were actively dealing with the Khaddaffi for the oil during his reign, and they were even able to happily ignore the Brother Leader's involvement in the Lockerbie Bombing. What they cared about was that black gold underneath Libya's sands.



The British and French only dumped Khaddaffi during the initial surge of the rebellion, when it looked like he was finished, and their response was to abandon Khaddaffi and rush to sign new oil deals with the rebels. When Khaddaffi rallied and pushed the rebels back to their final stronghold in Benghazi, the Brits and the French realized that they were going to be left out in the cold. And that's when NATO suddenly became involved and western military action against Khaddaffi's forces was launched to turn the tide.

I remind you of this not to defend Khaddaffi, but to give you a little realistic perspective on the matter, so no one's disappointed when the West pours billions into a Libyan rathole only to have it turn out as something different than 'free and democratic'. If the West's leaders were really all that fired up about freedom of democracy, they would have put Khaddaffi in the jar a long time ago.

All the pious nonsense about 'establishing freedom and democracy' or 'protecting the rights of the Libyan people' needs to be seen as exactly that. This was nineteenth century imperialism writ large, and it was always about the oil.

please donate...it helps me write more gooder!

Khaddaffi Dead : The Fall Of The Brother Leader

Libyan leader Moamad Khaddaffi was killed this morning, fighting to the last as his final stronghold in Sirte was taken by the rebels.He'd been in power for 44 years.

National Transitional Council (NTC) Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril announced the death at a news conference this morning in Tripoli.

Jibril said NTC forces were now pursuing Saif al-Islam, Col Khaddaffi's most prominent son, who fled Sirte in a convoy before Sirte fell. He's probably the last major Khaddaffi loyalist still at large.

Jibril also called for neighboring Algeria to turn over the members of KHaddaffi's family who fled there in August to revolutionary justice. Two of KHaddaffi's younger sons, his daughter and his wife are in the country.

"A new Libya is born today," Mahmoud Shammam, the chief spokesman of the Transitional National Council, said today in a statement. "This is the day of real liberation. We were serious about giving him a fair trial. It seems Allah has some other wish."

Apparently so.

British and French leaders hailed the of Khaddaffi's death and the preservation of those lucrative oil contracts they signed with the rebel forces.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the death a major step forward for the people of Libya and urged the pursuit of democratic reforms.

"The disappearance of Moamer Kadhaffi is a major step forward in the battle fought for more than eight months by the Libyan people to liberate themselves from the dictatorial and violent regime imposed on them for more than 40 years."

William Hague, Britain's Foreign Secretary said: "When the uprising began, we didn't know how long this would take. I think we feel vindicated all along as the country is now free to become a free and fair democracy. We are very pleased that with Khaddaffi has been removed. There is work to be now to stabilise Libya and bring together separate militias under the control of one governemnt. Once the liberation is declared then there's 30 days to form a transitional government. We should be on the optimistic side, but should not rule out further problems.

It could be a long job for the UK and our allies, but not so much a military job now. Tripoli is not Baghdad."

In other words, count on a lot more of your tax dollars going for nation building before the nature of Libya's new government is actually known.Actually, the odds on an Arab state being established in Libya that's actually free and democratic are incredibly long ones, but the oil will start flowing,which is all the British and French ever were concerned about in the first place.

After all, they didn't care a fig about 'democracy' when they were actively dealing with the Khaddaffi for the oil during his reign, and they were even able to happily ignore the Brother Leader's involvement in the Lockerbie Bombing. What they cared about was that black gold underneath Libya's sands.



The British and French only dumped Khaddaffi during the initial surge of the rebellion, when it looked like he was finished, and their response was to abandon Khaddaffi and rush to sign new oil deals with the rebels. When Khaddaffi rallied and pushed the rebels back to their final stronghold in Benghazi, the Brits and the French realized that they were going to be left out in the cold. And that's when NATO suddenly became involved and western military action against Khaddaffi's forces was launched to turn the tide.

I remind you of this not to defend Khaddaffi, but to give you a little realistic perspective on the matter, so no one's disappointed when the West pours billions into a Libyan rathole only to have it turn out as something different than 'free and democratic'. If the West's leaders were really all that fired up about freedom of democracy, they would have put Khaddaffi in the jar a long time ago.

All the pious nonsense about 'establishing freedom and democracy' or 'protecting the rights of the Libyan people' needs to be seen as exactly that. This was nineteenth century imperialism writ large, and it was always about the oil.

please donate...it helps me write more gooder!

Polar Warmth

Thanks to the adorable Capucha for reminding me of this song and movie...

Mad Men and Crazy Critters, 3rd episode – La Révolution Savignac

The Poster bears the same relation to the fine arts as freestyle wrestling does to good manners.  

Savignac

Most of Animalarium's visitors are likely already familiar with Raymond Savignac (1907-2002), 

one of the most celebrated French poster artists of the past century. He is also one of my favorites, 

thanks to the graceful spontaneity, cleverness and gentle humor of his works. Savignac left school 

at 15 and went to work as a draftsman and commercial artist. He started designing posters in 1935 

under the direction of the great Cassandre, and in the next ten years developed his own unique style. 

Fame arrived in 1949, thanks to Savignac's collaboration and exposition with Bernard Villemot, 

and to his famous design for Monsavon milk soap.

Cinzano and Quinzaine de la laine, 1951.

Sommeil = Equilibre and DOP journées des enfants propres, 1953.

Savignac viewed commercial art as "optimism at its most absurd", and "the creation of a fleeting image 

which people will not forget". He was very successful at putting these ideas into practice, and his 

trademark style based on bold, surprising, happy and colorful illustrations was much appreciated. 

During his long and prolific career, he designed over six hundred advertising posters for companies 

like Air France, Olivetti, Piaggio, Renault and Perrier.

Tricotez Pingouin, 1958, and Renault 4CV, 4 places, 1959.

Tintin Orange, 1962, and Omo enrichi, 1963.

Savignac spent the last 23 years of his life in Trouville, a small resort town on the coast of Normandy, 

and created numerous posters for local events. These late works are still as fresh, bright and cheerful as ever,

 showing no sign that he was in his eighties and saw himself as "an old brontosaurus who does a job that 

no longer exists for a species that's well on its way to extintion" (from an interview with Le Monde, 1986).

La Fête, 1977, Galerie Delorme, 1990, and Championnats d'orthographe, 1992.

Today Trouville displays his works in the Montebello Museum, on a beachfront walk dedicated to him, 

and on wall murals around town. The ever ironic Savignac had called the art world's celebration 

of his commercial work "nonsensical", and told Le Monde that he would have never created 

advertising posters, had he known that people would regard them as high art. 

The illustrated book Savignac s'affiche was published in France in 2008.

Free as a bird, warm as a bug

It's easy to fall in love with Beatrice Alemagna. The delicate touch and poetic beauty of her illustrations

 and children's stories masterfully play their tender melodies on the powerful chords connecting

 the eye to mind and heart. Beatrice writes books that deal with strong and important themes

 and emotions such as tolerance, loneliness, love and the difficulties of growing up and fitting in,

 but she does so with a lightness and simplicity perfectly attuned to her young audience.

 Her enchanting world is pervaded with the magic atmospheres, secret joys and warm scents 

of a childhood cherished and embraced.

Stitched fabric illustrations from Mon amour, Autrement Jeunesse 2002

Beatrice was born in Bologna, Italy, and studied at ISIA school of graphics in Urbino. 

At 23 she won first prize at the Figures Futur illustration competition in Paris, where she went to live

 soon after. Her motivation for moving to France owed much to the appeal of its publishing world,

 which is stronger, livelier and more innovative than its Italian counterpart (luckily, things here

 have been recently changing with the emergence of a number of small but very active and courageous

 independent publishers like orecchio acerbo, Topipittori, Zoolibri and Corraini).

Since then Beatrice has published over twenty books with many important publishers in France and abroad,

winning prestigious awards like the Andersen prize and a special mention at the Bologna Ragazzi awards

 in 2007 for A lion in Paris (published in France by Autrement, and just recently in Italy by Donzelli).

 She was also selected three times as a finalist for the Prix Baobab for best

 French illustrated book of the year.

Etching illustration from Je voulais une tortue, Panama 2005

Pencil and collage illustration from Les corbeaux de Pearblossom by Aldous Huxley, Gallimard Jeunesse 2005

Gouache, pencil and collage illustrations from Un lion à Paris, the story of a lonely lion

 looking for love, adventure and a sense of belonging in a big and too often indifferent city.

Oil, pastel, acrylic and collage illustrations from Omega et l'ourse

by Guillaume Guéraud, Editions du Panama 2008

While Beatrice's artistic style is always very personal, her media and techniques vary according

 to the particular mood and narrative requirements of the story she is illustrating.

For the past 11 years, Beatrice has also illustrated the posters

for the children's movie festival at Centre Pompidou.

Until the 25th of November, the Parisian bookstore and gallery Artazart (one of the best place

s for all things design and illustration) is exhibiting the lovely artworks created for the new book

Au pays des petits poux (Bugs in a blanket, Phaidon Press). Beatrice developed this new illustration technique

 involving felted wool, fabric, stitching and applique while searching for ways to evoke the dusty

 and hairy cozyness of the old blanket where her story takes place. The book addresses issues

 of tolerance and identity through the charming and funny tale of the struggle of a colony

 of little insects to come to terms with their different appearances.

Here at animalarium I tend to focus mostly on images, but if you understand Italian take the time

 for a visit to Le figure dei libri, a beautiful blog dedicated to illustrated children's books.

The author Anna Castagnoli (herself an illustrator), who I also thank as the source for some

 of these pictures, has dedicated a whole series of insightful posts to Beatrice, including an interview

and in-depth descriptions and analysis of her works.