The Art of Having Fun: Père Castor’s Activity Books

January 5 - June 15 2008

In the 1930s Paul Faucher launched a publishing program of innovative but affordable story and activity books for young children under the auspices of the publisher Flammarion.  Known as the Père Castor series, these activity books typically offer children projects that promote self-expression through creative play with highly stylized or abstract forms, scissors, coloured paper, and paste.  Faucher was fortunate to have been able to draw on the talents of such émigré artists as Nathalie Parain and Nathan Altman, who had distinguished themselves as members of the avant-garde in their native Russia.  The consistently skillful melding of informed pedagogy and excellent artwork quickly attracted international acclaim for the series.  It is still regarded as one of the most outstanding achievements in children’s bookmaking during the twentieth century.