Title of the work
Country of the First Edition
Country/countries of popularity
Original Language
First Edition Date
First Edition Details
Michel Piquemal, ill. Max Cabanes, La Chanson des Sirènes. Toulouse: Éditions Milan, 1998, 24 pp.
ISBN
Available Onllne
The text of the story is available in PDF format on Michel Piquemal website (accessed: August 3, 2018).
Awards
1999 – Prix Jeunesse Mousse du Salon du livre maritime in Concarneau, see livremer.org (accessed: August 3, 2018)
Genre
Fantasy fiction
Fiction
Illustrated works
Short stories
Target Audience
Children (7–12 year old)
Cover
We are still trying to obtain permission for posting the original cover.
Author of the Entry:
Elżbieta Olechowska, University of Warsaw, elzbieta.olechowska@gmail.com
Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, lisa.maurice@biu.ac.il
Max Cabanes, photographed by Georges Seguin (Okki) on April 10, 2010, the file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (accessed: May 28, 2018).
Max Cabanes
, b. 1947
(Illustrator)
Born September 22, 1947 in in Béziers (Hérault, France). A well known French illustrator of books and periodicals as well as author of comic books, awarded many French specialized prizes for Bande Déssinée.
La Chanson des Sirènes is the only Michel Piquemal’s book illustrated by Max Cabanes.
Bio prepared by Elżbieta Olechowska, University of Warsaw, elzbieta.olechowska@gmail.com
Portrait (accessed: May 28, 2018): Michel Piquemal au 7e salon du livre de jeunesse à Cormontreuil, March 2012, photo by Garitan, licenced under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0, f
Michel Piquemal
, b. 1954
(Author)
Born on December 17, 1954 in Béziers (Hérault, France). He studied literature, comparative literature, and education; worked until 1988 as a primary school teacher. Authored over two hundred books for children and YA, writes texts for comic books, song lyrics, television scripts, articles in children’s periodicals. One of his favourite themes is philosophy, another… the American Indians. He produces an average of six books per year. He tried many different genres, including detective stories, theatre, heroic fantasy.
In 1989, he won the grand prize for a book for youth awarded by the French Ministry of Youth & Sports for his novel Le Jobard. He created a collection Carnets de sagesse published at Éditions Albin Michel to which he contributed himself several volumes.
La Chanson des Sirènes won the Prix Jeunesse Mousse du Salon du livre maritime in Concarneau in 1999 (see here, accessed: June 3, 2018).
Michel Piquemal’s Works Inspired by Antiquity – bolded titles refer to texts included in the survey.
Piquemal, Michel. Petite anthologie de la Mythologie. Toulouse: Éditions Sédrap, 1996. Collection Genres Littéraires au Collège.
Piquemal, Michel. La chanson des sirènes. Album pour les 7- 12 ans, illustré par Max Cabanes. Toulouse: Éditions Milan, 1998. Gd Prix salon livre Concarneau 1999.
Piquemal, Michel. Les Philo-Fables. 60 Fables accompagnées de questions, de repères et de mots-clés; dès 9 ans. Paris : Éditions Albin Michel, 2003.
Translation : Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Greek, Hebrew, Brasilian Portuguese, Italian, Serbian,Polish
Sound version: Montreal: Éditions Stanké, s.d.
Piquemal, Michel. Petites & grandes fables de Sophios. Paris: Éditions Albin Michel, 2004.
Translation: Chinese, German, Japanese, Italian Sound version: Montreal: Éditions Stanké, s.d.
Piquemal, Michel. Récits fabuleux de la mythologie: amours, ruses et jalousies, Paris: Éditions Albin Michel, 2006. Vol.1 .
Translations: Chinese, Italian
Sound version: Montreal: Éditions Stanké, s.d.
Piquemal, Michel. Récits fabuleux de la mythologie: les héros et les monstres [Fabulous Mythological Tales : Heroes and Monsters]. Paris: Éditions Albin Michel, octobre 2006. Vol. 2.
Translation : Chinese
Sound version: Paris: Éditions Albin Michel, s.d.
Piquemal, Michel. Les Philo-Fables, Paris: Livre de Poche, mai 2010.
Vol. 1-2 for adult reader.
Piquemal, Michel et Daniel Royo. Le secret de Marcus Caïus Victor, roman historique pour les 8/12 ans au coeur de la Gaule narbonnaise. Illustrations de Gwendal Lazzara. Toulouse: Éditions Sédrap, novembre 2011
Piquemal, Michel. Récits fabuleux de la mythologie. Illustrations by Séverin Millet. Paris: Éditions Albin Michel, 07.12.2012.
Sources:
Michel Piquemal’s official website (accessed: June 3, 2018).
Full bibliography of books by Michel Piquemal is posted here (accessed: June 3, 2018).
Bio prepared by Elżbieta Olechowska, University of Warsaw, elzbieta.olechowska@gmail.com
Summary
A large family with children is vacationing at the seashore. One of the boys manages with his younger brother and cousins to catch a sea-horse. The brother promises the sea-horse that he would set him free and in spite of being scared of his older brother, he does release the creature back to the sea. The brother is furious and turns all the other boys against him. They refuse to play with him. The boy, bored and unhappy, starts reading Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. During the night, a gigantic Hippocamp (sea horse) comes to take him to Nautilus and Captain Nemo who asks the boy what he would like to receive as gift for his courageous behaviour. The boy asks Nemo to teach him how to sing, as it is his great dream. Nemo sends him to the Mermaids who teach him the Sirens’ Song and are beautiful and charming to him. After the music lesson, the Hippocamp takes him back to the family hut. When he wakes up the next morning, he begins to sing beautifully the Mermaids’ song at the seashore. All his family, including his older brother are enchanted by his voice and the song and nobody is cross with him any longer. A novel interpretation of Mermaids as ‘domesticated’ creatures, beautiful women appreciating recognition of their beauty and their magical singing; willing to teach their song to “good” humans, i. e. those who respect nature. These mermaids’ song enchants by its wonderful music and does not cause harm.
Analysis
A summer sea-shore vacation story–diary of a contemporary boy who has mysterious encounters with mythical creatures of the sea he knows from a secondary literary source, Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The story has strong ecological overtones and glorifies values such as keeping promises and respecting nature, its creatures and forces. The author uses also the motif of rendering assistance to a magical animal in distress and the gift offered by the animal grateful for the rescue, cf. the story of the fisherman and the golden fish and of many fairy-tales where timely magical rewards are given for help provided by the main character.
Further Reading
Mekouar, Myriam, «Quand la littérature ne prend pas l’enfant pour une bille ! – interview avec Michel Piquemal», "La Pause Philo," 9 July 2020. (accessed October 26, 2020)
Nières-Chevrel, Isabelle, Introduction à la littérature de jeunesse, Paris: Didier Jeunesse, 2009.
Prince, Nathalie and Sylvie Servoise, Les personnages mythique dans la littérature de jeunesse, Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2015.
Addenda
Piquemal_La chanson des sirenes_texte.pdf
La Chanson des Sirènes is the only Michel Piquemal’s book illustrated by Max Cabanes.
The Author’s Official Site: Michelpiquemal.com (accessed: November 22, 2022).
