Umbrella
Pierre Alexis

The moving story of a bat adopting and raising a duckling.

Umbrella the bat wakes up from a long winter sleep. A gust of wind takes her to an unknown place. Her eyes hardly recognize things, but they can feel the light: a treasure is shining in the water. It’s an egg! Umbrella broods on it, and one day realizes that bats don’t lay eggs… when the egg hatches, a duckling comes out of it! The duckling doesn’t know the first thing about ducks or bats, but one thing he does have is a loving parent standing above him as he learns how to smooth his feathers and to swim in the water.

The mind-blowing and light-emanating gouache paintings echo a strong, poetic text. By up-and-coming author Pierre Alexis, winner of the Montreuil Festival Pépite Award of the Best Illustrated Book 2022 for Règlobus.

Pierre Alexis
The author and illustrator

Pierre Alexis was born in 1980 and grew up in Normandy. As a child, he was passionate about animal magazines and traditional tales. He worked as a veterinarian for ten years before studying illustration at the Académie Royale des Beaux Arts in Brussels. Natural sciences and the representation of animals in literature remain a source of inspiration and surprise to him. In 2020, his first picture book Règlobus was selected by the jury of the Unpublished Picturebook Showcase 2. He lives and works in Brussels.