The Blue Water Puddle
Guillaume Chauchat
& Manuel Zenner

A child defies his fear of night time to find back his cuddly toy.

It all starts with a mysterious disappearance: Georges’ cuddly toy falls into a blue puddle and when Georges wants to pick it up, nothing: the puddle is endless! Unable to explain this strange event, Georges doesn’t say anything to his parents. When night comes, however, he turns his bag into a survival kit: chocolate bar, biscuits, honeypot, complete doll’s tea set… and off he goes looking for his cuddly toy. As soon as he’s left the house, he hears his parents calling his name. Not wanting to scare them, he goes back to bed. But in his dream, the search carries on and from the diving board to the rubber boots, it looks like some familiar objects related to water have decided to help him in his quest…

With its simple yet powerful graphic design, this big-format picture book explores a strong topic of early childhood: the loss of a cuddly toy and the courage it takes to be away from it.  

Guillaume Chauchat
The author and illustrator

A graduate from the Ecole supérieure des arts décoratifs from Strasbourg, Guillaume Chauchat draws for the press (Le Monde, Libération, The New York Times…) and for publishing. He has published comic books at 2024 (Il se passe des choses) and children’s books at Biscoto (Un lisou) and Albin Michel Jeunesse (Les collectionneurs, Je me suis caché).

Manuel Zenner
The author and illustrator

A graduate from the Werkplaats Typografie (The Netherlands), Manuel Zenner lives and works in Strasbourg. As a multidisciplinary artists, he explores the book as an object, graphic design, drawing of signs, installations and sound. Since 2011, he has been committed to publishing projects and working with authors and artists on matters of layout and typography.