History
The work started out as a comic strip, which initially ran in the Belgian magazine '' Le Moustique'' between 1956 and 1958, drawn by Sempé and written by Goscinny. The series was quick to draw attention. A few years later Goscinny began to write Le Petit Nicholas in short story form, with illustrations by Sempé. The first Nicholas story, ''L’œuf de Pâques'', was published 29 March 1959 in the journal Sud-Ouest Dimanche. The authors hadn't initially planned to continue the series but the sudden popularity of the comic kept them going. Thus, they continued to publish the comics in Sud-Ouest andConcept
The books are told from the point of view of Nicolas himself, which gives the book a distinct and personal sense of humour. The narration is a pastiche of childish storytelling, with run-on sentences and schoolyard slang used in abundance, and much of the humour derives from Nicolas' misunderstanding of adults' behaviour. At the same time, adults are as much a target of the book's satire as children, as the straightforward and uncomplicated worldview of the child narrator exposes the flaws of adult perception. This subversive element in ''Le Petit Nicolas'' made it an early example of modern children's literature that is centred on the experience of the child's interpretation of the world, rather than an adult's.Characters
The characters from the French edition include (with names from Anthea Bell's English translation in square brackets): * Nicolas (the main character) icholas He is sensitive and attached to true values like friendship, love of one's parents, and has some sense of justice. He is not good at arithmetic and is the smallest in his class. * Clotaire atthew "He's bottom of the class. " * Alceste lex Nicolas' best friend, "he's fat and he eats all the time." * Eudes ddie "He's very strong and likes to punch our friends on the nose." * Geoffroy eoffrey "His dad is very rich and buys him everything he wants." * Agnan uthbert "He is ranked first in the class and is the teacher's pet and therefore nobody likes him, but you can't hit him as often as you'd like, because he wears glasses." * Joachim eremy He has a little brother. * Maixent ax He runs very fast because of his long legs. * Rufus: "His father is a policeman, and he's got a cop's whistle." * Marie-Edwige Courteplaque ary-Jane Campbell "She's the very nice girl." * Louisette ouise The daughter of a friend of the mother of Nicolas; Nicolas decides he wants to marry her because she playsEnglish edition
An English edition with the title ''Young Nicolas'' was completed by Stella Rodway for Hutchinson & Co. in 1961. It was published in the USA by Bobbs-Merrill in 1962. The characters' names retain the French form. The title page lists the authors simply as "Sempé and Goscinny". An English edition of the series with anglicised character names was released in 1978, translated by Anthea Bell. This contained five volumes: ''Nicholas and the Gang at School'', ''Nicholas and the Gang Again'', ''Nicholas on Holiday'', ''Nicholas and the Gang'', and ''Nicholas at Large''. The first volume was republished with more complete illustrations in 2005 by Phaidon Press as ''Nicholas''. Four further volumes followed from Phaidon, as ''Nicholas Again'', ''Nicholas on Holiday'' (''Nicholas on Vacation'' in North America), ''Nicholas and the Gang'', and finally ''Nicholas in Trouble'' in 2008. In this version, M. Dubon (nicknamed "le Bouillon") becomes Mr. Goodman (nicknamed "Old Spuds"). He derives his nickname from his habit of repeating constantly: "Look me in the eye." In French broth (bouillon) has eyes (blobs of fat on the surface), in the English version they become potato eyes. In the story 'Djodjo', the English exchange student becomes Flemish, and his nickname is changed from "Djodjo" to "Djocky". Another English translation of ''Le petit Nicolas'', with the title ''The Chronicles of Little Nicholas'', was published in New York by Farrar, Straus Giroux in 1993. The translator is not named in this edition; the copyright page attributes copyright for the translation to Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ''Nicholas'' was the subject of a Mildred L. Batchelder ''Honour'' for translated children's books in 2006 given by the Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, and ''Nicholas and the Gang'' received the same honour in 2008English books
* ''The Chronicles of Little Nicholas'' (''Le petit Nicolas'') * ''Young Nicolas'' (''Le petit Nicolas'') * ''Nicholas Again'' (''Les récrés du petit Nicolas'') * ''Nicholas on Holiday'' or ''Nicholas on Vacation'' (USA and Canada) (''Les vacances du petit Nicolas'') * ''Nicholas and the Gang'' (''Le petit Nicolas et les copains'') * ''Nicholas in Trouble'' (''Le petit Nicolas a des ennuis'')Adaptations
* '' Little Nicholas'' (''Le Petit Nicolas''), 2009 film * '' Le Petit Nicolas'', 2009 animated TV series * '' Nicholas on Holiday'' (''Les Vacances du Petit Nicolas''), 2014 film * ', 2021 film * ''Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be'' ('), 2022 animated filmExternal links
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petit Nicolas, Le French children's novels 1959 novels Book series introduced in 1959 French comic strips 1956 comics debuts 1959 comics endings Child characters in comics Child characters in literature Male characters in comics Male characters in literature Comedy literature characters Fictional French people Humor comics Children's comics Slice of life comics French novels adapted into films French comics adapted into films Children's books adapted into films Comics adapted into novels Comics adapted into animated series Comics adapted into television series Children's books adapted into television shows French novels adapted into television shows Works by René Goscinny Comics set in France Comics set in the 1950s Comics set in the 1960s Novels set in France Novels set in the 1950s Novels set in the 1960s 1959 children's books