Cartoon movie 2007 asked me to host few projects in Potsdam and I did it with strong interest, curiosity and… pleasure. Great ideas and enthusiasm deserve our best support, don’t you think? I suppose I’ll do more of this and should be in Stuttgart from April 27th to May 1st to co-host the main and best German Animation Festival (see www.itfs.de). Tons of creativity making our minds faster than any of the Mercedes and Porsche from that town: come and race with us! And this is just around the corner from Esslingen where I can visit the lovely publisher of our 2nd book with ZICKE ZACKE, “DER JUX MIT DEM FUCHS” (the fun with the fox - just out now in Germany: jetzt sofort bestellen/kaufen, bitte bitte!). As always with some hint of Marcousin and one feathered fox looking somehow like a lost character of Miyazaki. And otherwise, back to our lovely tree house of Little Venice, growing new roots in a wonderful sunny London with Patsy and friends.

Is a dog life so hard? Would I want to be one of my dogs?
They came: our very intense but lovely lady jack russell enjoid getting 4 puppies and also giving them away to 4 happy families who will have fun but also to deal with so much energy!
He left: we found out that our old philosophical labrador was ill. As his liver gave up, he was getting weeker every week, losing a lot of weight and finding life harder and harder. Anticipating more suffering, we had to put him to sleep. Feeling obviously very sad, even guilty but also happy to be able to shortcut any more pain as his eyes seemed to ask “Why?” everytime he looked up towards us. He was beautiful, all white, gentle and part of Marcousin’s history. He took a lot of dreams, happy times and child’s laughs with him and I will always remember him.
We move: to enjoy London and our friends a bit more often, since the quarantine from Patsy is over, we did it! But a dog can’t cross the channel as easily as a person!
Conclusion: people enjoying animals around them are often happier, aren’t they? Or are the dogs having the best deal? It depends if giving is indeed better than getting…

Some work in London, incl. a wonderful time with Michael Dudok de Wit, the illustrator of OSCAR AND HOO and also a friend and great animation artist, and our editor from HarperCollins, the preparation of new books and animation projects  (always much too slow in my opinion!) as well as some consultancy in Paris made this winter quite frantic. And now all gone very quiet under a coat of ice in Marcousin. The busy world outside seem to disappear. And just before Christmas, between the visits of family and friends, one of our dog got 4 white little Jack Russell puppies: so easy, naturally and quickly. The invisible book of nature seems to be so well written. But we can’t read it, can we? We are so busy running around and ignoring most of the big issues. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote: “We do not inheritate the earth but borrow it from our childrens”. And HOO seems to tell me: “The world is nicer from above: do something for it, now!”. If possible, we should write more to inspire kids for the environment, the joy of living on our planet and being part of the nature… 2007 will be inspiring, happy, green and blue, full of surprises - or won’t be. I wish you all the very best, feet on the ground and head in the clouds.

After some time in London and some good writing, I enjoy now one of the best Autumn in Périgord ever! Sunny and mild with a nature full of nice surprises such as chestnut (yummy grilled in the fireplace in the evening) and beautiful red rose hips for jam (delicious but a lot of work). The 3 dogs and I enjoy long walks before it gets dark and the owl takes over in the next forest near the house… We share often simple but delicious diners with friends from around the region, with a lot of laughs and local specialities. In the morning, some long fog clouds down in the valley remind me of HOO and the cold and wet weather coming soon! But all these help so much for some good inspiration and new stories.

As I decided to leave Munich, I took the opportunity of a trip to Amsterdam to do so with my bike. A bit lazy and not willing to do the first 1.200km on motorway, I put my motorbike on the train until Cologne to then drive to Amsterdam. It was great and driving through the Venice of the north, between all the bikes and canals, is a dream. Then just 100km to Hook von Holland, near Den Haag, to take a ferry until Harwich. Fantastic, apart from a very old ticket the nice dutch policeman found on his computer before I could embark… A last present to the Queen Beatrix?! And finally another 100km to London, always pinching myself to rember to drive on the left and arriving very late in the night to be ”speed flashed” just before the house of parliament and learning how to hide the motorbike under a lid to avoid the parking tickets… A good trip indeed!

Frankfurt bookfair (beg. Oct.) and Cinekid in Amsterdam (end of Oct.) where I have the honour and pleasure to sit in the Jury…

This week (19th - 24th September), everything is “Pau-ssible”: at the forum cartoon, 750 european animation specialists meet in Pau to discuss projects. I’m there!

Marcousin was beautiful this summer: extremely warm in July and, in August, some happy summer storms with rain for the plants.. The peaches, figues, apples, blackberries were exceptionnally good. And the dogs enjoyed every long walk in the woods and swim in the Dordogne. We’ll be back soon!

May 20th 06, I read ZICKE ZACKE and OSCAR AND HOO for a lot of kids and parents at the 6th European Kids Books fair of Saarbrücken - in German! I was a bit nervous but a great organisation, fantastic crowd and perfect support of the boss of Esslinger Verlag, Anke, who is originally from that region, made me 100% love that live experience. Can’t wait for the next occasion?!
See www.buchmesse-saarbruecken.de

On TV, THE LAST SUBWAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS runs often before Christmas in France (France 3, CanalJ), Germany (Kika), Finland (YLE 1), Denmark (DRK), Italy (RAI)… As it is so different, funny and not cheesy, the fan community grows slowly… And Nov. 13th 2005 had OSCAR AND HOO its premiere in the show called DOMINIQUE RACONTE-MOI on RADIO CANADA in Québec. The host, Dominique Demers, reads it so well, emotionally and clever, and she transports the kids and us in the books, not just through the pictures but through her understanding of kids, emotions and stories.
See www.radio-canada.ca