SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Manga
  • All Ages
  • Young Adult
  • Interviews
  • News

July 22, 2014 by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Review: Cast Away on the Letter A

July 22, 2014 by J. Caleb Mozzocco   1 comments

Cast Away on the Letter A
By Fred
Toon Books; $17

While I imagine there are quite a few benefits to running one’s own imprint, rather high on the list must be the ability to introduce an entirely new generation in an entirely new country to a favorite story of your youth, and, better yet, to find out that the story in question is every bit as timeless as you thought it would be.

That seems to be the case with Toon Books’ publisher and editor Francoise Mouly, who is launching a new Toon Graphics imprint of longer graphic novels with a translation of the late Frederic Otohn Aristedes’ Philemon adventure, Cast Away on the Letter A. As Mouly recounts in a short afterword following the adventure story, Aristedes’ Philemon strips were among her favorite in the comics anthologies she grew up reading in France, along with Asterisx and Lucky Luke (certainly good company to be in).

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

So who exactly is this Philemon character, aside from being the star of strips from a famous French cartoonist, better known by his pen name Fred, that young Mouly so enjoyed?

Philemon, as we learn in the opening pages here, is a young boy who lives in the country with his often grouchy, shouting, and cursing father Hector, and with his friend Anatole, a talking donkey. This story begins when Hector sends Philemon to the well to fetch some water, and as the boy complies, he finds a series of bottles with messages in them, of the sort a castaway might throw out to sea in hope of rescue.

Philemon falls into the well and gets sucked within its depths, spotting a shark before passing out, only to wash up on a beach. The island he finds himself on is so nonsensical as to make Alice’s Wonderland seem run-of-the-mill: Two green suns shine in the sky, a clock springs out of the sand like a fast-growing weed only to explode a few seconds later, bottles grow on trees and…well, you get the idea.

It turns out the strange land Philemon finds himself on is the letter “A” that the word “Atlantic Ocean” begins with; look at most any map or globe, and you’ll see the chain of islands spelling out “Atlantic Ocean” is indeed there. Philemon’s not the only castaway on the letter A; there’s also a well-digger from his town called Mr. Bartholomew, who, like Robinson Crusoe, is dressed in clothes made of plants and has made a native friend by the name of Friday…although Bartholomew’s Friday is a centaur, rather than a human being.

To get off the letter A, Philemon must solve a strange riddle and navigate a labyrinth, fight a lamp, befriend the crew of a ship in a bottle and get to the other A in “Atlantic.”

Don’t worry, everything works out okay, as Philemon finds the exit that leads back to the well in his own, one-sunned world. (You know what they say—all’s well that ends in a well!).

Philemon’s father Hector naturally doesn’t believe the outlandish story, despite having a bit of proof presented to him—the water in the well is salty. Hector’s refusal to believe Philemon’s outlandish stories of his even more outlandish adventures is apparently a theme in Fred’s Philemon strips.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

I’ve already mentioned Lewis Carroll’s Alice, and Fred’s story shares quite a bit in common with the Alice stories, involving as they do a young person finding an everyday thing is actually a portal to a crazy land of dream-logic and random adventure, before returning safely to the mundane world.

There’s nothing about the story that seems inherently French or inherently old, nothing that would keep a kid or teenager or grown-up from today from enjoying the gags and adventure elements, and Fred’s artwork is a nice, roughly-hewn admixture of cartoonish characters with highly detailed, layered environments and objects.

Like all Toon Books, this one ends with a little bit of backmatter for parents, teachers and librarians, only because this is a bigger book, there’s more of it, including the afterword by Mouly, a short bio of Fred, two pages of notes noting various allusions in the work, and a few book club-like discussion questions.

It’s a great read but, beyond that, it’s of the sort one hopes finds an audience and does well, so that we get more of Fred’s Philemon translated and published here in the United States.

Filed under: All Ages, Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
Cast Away on the letter AFrançoise MoulyFredFrederic Otohn AristedesPhilemonToon BooksTOON Graphics

About J. Caleb Mozzocco

J. Caleb Mozzocco is a way-too-busy freelance writer who has written about comics for online and print venues for a rather long time now. He currently contributes to Comic Book Resources' Robot 6 blog and ComicsAlliance, and maintains his own daily-ish blog at EveryDayIsLikeWednesday.blogspot.com. He lives in northeast Ohio, where he works as a circulation clerk at a public library by day.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

January 2023

Andy Warner's Oddball Histories: Pests and Pets | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

January 2023

My Sister, the Cat, vol. 1 | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

January 2023

History Comics: Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

October 2022

A Costume for Charly | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

September 2022

History Comics: The Roanoke Colony | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

One Star Review, Guess Who? (#184)

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Announcing the 2023 Winners of the Annual Blueberry Literary Award!

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Victory! Stand!

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Penguin Random House Showcase 2023

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Newbery Medalist Amina Luqman-Dawson visits The Yarn

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

26 Chapter Books, Middle Grade, and Graphic Novels for Latinx Heritage Month and Beyond

Shoujo Manga: Let's Hear It for the Girls | Mondo Manga

Funny Books for Unfunny Times

15 Returning Faces for Graphic Novels Shelves | Series Update

Top 10 Manga of 2021

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chris Duffy says

    July 29, 2014 at 5:37 pm

    Nice article/review! I can’t wait to pick this up.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023