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I like to read children's books. Yes, I have a college degree in fascinating things like geology and art history; I work for reputable institutions like museums and orchestras; and I enjoy a good conversation about Henri Nouwen, Darren Aronofsky, or Thomas Jefferson over a glass of merlot. I can even get dressed up to the nines, waltz into Harvard Club or Madison Square Garden, and act like I know what's up. But when it really comes down to it, I really just want to curl up with literature written for my inner-eight-year-old. The more illustrations the better.

So it will come as no surprise that I spend time with the likes of George, Tintin, Violet, Brother, and Ramona... among many others. I've discussed how I grew up reading the Tintin series before, but he wasn't the only "exchange student" I entertained as a kid. In the late-80s, my Swiss cousins introduced me to the boistrous and zany exploits of Astérix, a series about a village of Gauls resisting Roman occupation. René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo produced these comic books from 1959-1977, and like The Adventures of Tintin, the popular Astérix series continues to make new young friends in popular tv and film projects today.

Now with the exception of a few good new entries to children's literature (the brilliance of Scieszka and Smith comes to mind), I'm often re-reading my favorites. But every now and then, I get the pleasant surprise of discovering a old classic for the first time. That's how I met Nicolas.

Le Petit Nicolas series follows the everyday antics of a little French schoolboy in the 1950s. Cleverly written by Goscinny and wonderfully illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempé (of New Yorker magazine cover fame), Nicolas tells the stories himself... complete with the run-on sentences, naive perspective, and uncomplicated style of an eight-year-old. Interestingly, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince (written about ten years before the Nicolas series) also employs an idealistic childlike worldview, particularly in how it points out the flaws of grown-ups... something I haven't let go of since I was that age either (but that's a story for another day).

It's absolutely hilarious to read. So much so that I decided it'd be worth sharing a chapter with you. Chapter Four: A Game of Soccer follows Nicolas and his schoolmates into the local empty lot for a really excellent weekend soccer match. If only the game would actually get started...


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