Monet’s Mouse the Star of New Kickstarter

Uncivilized Books, a longtime publisher of literary and alternative graphic novels, is running a Kickstarter campaign right now to fund the launch of their children’s imprint, Odod, and the lineup is impressive.

For starters, they are plan to publish the four-volume graphic novel series Musnet, by the French artist Kickliy. Musnet is a coming-of-age story about a mouse who learns to paint by living in the walls of Claude Monet’s house and watching the Impressionist master paint. Kickliy actually created miniature oil paintings for this book, to illustrate both Musnet’s and Monet’s paintings. The first volume is already available; The Picture Book Review blog has a review with a generous preview and links to other reviews as well. The Kickstarter will allow Uncivilized Books to co-print the books with the French publisher Dargaud; because they operate on different release schedules, Kickstarter backers will get the books before they are available to the general public.

The Odod line also will include a Polish import, That Night, A Monster…, by by Marzena Sowa and Berenika Kołomycka, about a boy who wakes up one morning to find that his mother is gone and a giant fern seems to have taken her place, and a new edition of Over the Wall, by Peter Wartman, which made YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens list.

Premium levels for the Kickstarter range from $5, which gets you digital copies of all the books, to $1,000, for an original oil painting, and if you’re feeling flush, there’s even a $10,000 reward that includes a three-day visit to Giverny, France, including a trip to Monet’s studio and personal art lessons from Kickliy. The Kickstarter ends on December 12.

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