New York, June 12, 2019—The Cultural Services of the French Embassy launches Fly Away with Books, a four-day festival that aims to (re)introduce children of all backgrounds to the unique pleasures of reading. From July 11th to July 14th, renowned French illustrators and authors Lucie Brunellière, Marie-Laure Cruschi (aka Cruschiform ), Anouck Boisrobert, and Louis Rigaud will conduct playful and imaginative workshops in venues throughout New York City, from Inwood to Dumbo. Organized in partnership with the New York Public Library, Albertine Books, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy’s Environmental Education Center and the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), the festival will be entirely free and open to both French and English-speaking children from 4 to 10 years old. http://staging.frenchculture.org/events/10006-fly-away-books.
“As the world becomes more and more centered around technology,” says Bénédicte de Montlaur, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy to the United States, “Fly Away with Books strives to give new generations the opportunity to reconnect with books outside of the school context and explore the extraordinary resources they hold. From crafts and games to group story hour, this series of workshops will give children across New York City the opportunity to let their imaginations run wild.”
Full Scheduale
Thursday, July 11 (1pm-3pm)
Location: Tompkins Square Library (NYPL’s branch), East Village, Manhattan (31 E 10th St, New York, NY, 10009)
Workshops:
– Corals with Lucie Brunellière
– Colorama Memory with Cruschiform
– Garden Pop-Up with Anouck Boisrobert or Louis Rigaud
Friday, July 12 (2pm-4pm)
Location: Inwood Library (NYPL’s branch), Inwood, Manhattan (4790 Broadway, New York, NY, 10034)
Workshops:
– Animal Geometry with Lucie Brunellière
– Atlas – A Geographic Color Chart with Cruschiform
– Garden Pop-Up with Anouck Boisrobert or Louis Rigaud
Saturday, July 13 (11am–5pm)
Morning (11am–1pm)
Location: Albertine Bookstore, Upper East Side, Manhattan (972 Fifth Ave, New York, NY, 10075)
Workshops:
– Animal Geometry with Lucie Brunellière
– Colorama Memory with Cruschiform
– Garden Pop-Up with Anouck Boisrobert or Louis Rigaud
Afternoon (3pm-5pm)
Location: Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy’s Environmental Education Center, Dumbo, Brooklyn (99 Plymouth St, Brooklyn, NY, 11201)
Workshops:
– Corals with Lucie Brunellière
– Atlas – A geographic color chart with Cruschiform
– Garden Pop-Up with Anouck Boisrobert or Louis Rigaud
– Storytime, featuring the books of the authors
This event will feature an Albertine Books pop-up shop offering a selection of children’s in French and English books for purchase.
Sunday, July 14 (1pm-4pm)
Events on this day will be conducted as part of the annual ‘Bastille Day’ event organized by the FIAF (French Institute Alliance Française).
Location: 60th Street between Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
Workshops:
– 1pm: Animal Geometry with Lucie Brunellière
– 2pm: Full Speed Ahead with Cruschiform
– 3pm: Garden Pop-Up with Anouck Boisrobert or Louis Rigaud
These events are part of Kids Trail, a program of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and FACE Foundation.
Designed as a yearlong artistic journey, Kids Trail offers children and adults the opportunity to explore French arts and culture through a variety of disciplines: cinema, theater, design, dance, visual arts, philosophy, music and literature.
About
Anouck Boisrobert and Louis Rigaud
Anouck Boisrobert and Louis Rigaud form an author-illustrator creative duo of pop-up books, stimulating the imaginations of the young and old alike. Together, they have written 10 books, 4 of which have been translated in English. Their work Oh ! Mon chapeau (Oh, my Hat!) was rewarded in 2018 at the Fair of Bologna, where it won the Bologna Ragazzi Award.
Lucie Brunellière
Lucie Brunellière is a graphic artist and illustrator specializing in children’s illustration. She studied visual communication in Paris and design in Strasbourg before putting her talents to the service of press publications for kids. Today, Brunellière devotes herself to the creation of albums for children.
Cruschiform
The work of Marie-Laure Cruschi (alias Cruschiform) lies at the intersection of art, graphic design, illustration and typography. Sensitive to color and geometric modular designs, she enjoys experimenting with various graphic devices in playful, poetic and sometimes didactic ways, creating narrative universes that are perpetually in renewal.
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Contact
Camille Desprez, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, camille.desprez@diplomatie.gouv.fr, +1.212.439.1417