Mini punk: a new collection with bite

MISE &Agrave ; DAY

Biographies full of bite for the rebel in every parent and for children who like to go beyond the margins. The Mini punk collection presents the albums Voïvod – trash metal explained to children and Claude Gauvreau – really weird art explained to children.

Why did you want to participate in this original collection of children's albums?

Francis Desharnais: While discussing with the publisher Jade Bérubé, we had the idea of ​​making several books on artists who are less aimed a priori at children, but whose life we ​​can tell and that could bring something to the children.

PisHier: I do a lot of stuff related to music and that's why I think I was approached for this collection of albums.

The author and illustrator PisHier

Trash metal and bizarre art; why talk about these subjects to children?

PisHier: I come from Jonquière, like Voïvod. I wanted to talk about the history of the band, but through the gossip I heard when I was a kid. I saw the name Voivod everywhere in town, in schoolyards. With my book, I use Voivod as a way to tell children to go for what they want to do.  

F. D.: For me, Claude Gauvreau is an example of how far you can go, in art… How far you can go against the current. I wanted to explain to children that even if a work of art seems strange to them, there is an intention behind it. And that by digging into what the work says, you can learn a lot of things.  

What themes did you want to bring out?

PisHier: Camaraderie and the importance of recovering from failure. When I was young, I was discouraged when I said that I wanted to make a living from drawing. But I persevered! This point that joins me in Voivod is relentlessness!

F. D.: Self-acceptance, inclusion and difference. Demonstrate that sometimes, even if it's difficult, it's still important to be yourself.

What style did you want to give to your illustrations?

< p>PisHier: I wanted a lively and expressive style, but I also wanted to represent the members of Voïvod as small characters that children would be able to identify with.

F. D.: For this album, I wanted to do something more spontaneous, to have a livelier line. I went there more with stains than drawings as such.

What would be your definition of a mini punk?

F. D.: Someone who doesn't let himself be imposed, who doesn't absorb everything he hears, who thinks for himself and who is keen to change certain things in the system.

< p>PisHier: A mini punk does not take the ordinary beaten path. I don't see this collection as one about punks in general, but more about people taking different avenues.