Ever heard of Mortelle Adele--this bold little girl, who is hilarious and free, created by Antoine Dole and illustrated by Diane Lefeyer since 2014?
Adèle has an amazing imagination when it comes to oversized goofy ideas, she's not the nicest girl, and she gladly wreaks havoc in her entourage and especially for her parents. So, why do children (and parents!) love her so much?!
Take the test: put a volume of Mortelle Adèle in the hands of a child (girl or boy from 7 years old on as one of their first books to read), and wait 3 minutes. You are guaranteed a quick burst of laughter!
Mortelle Adèle was one of Ella's first books that read (Ella's now 10). Very quickly, we collected Adèle's whole universe. Ella was looking forward to each new volume of the graphic novel series (and we had to rush to the bookshop on release day of course!).
So what does she love about this little super heroine? She's funny and fearless. She makes her own rules and imagines XXL nonsense. She turns clichés and rules in their head ...
During lock down in Australia, we launched the "Mini Talks" live on Instagram (kind, simple discussions to discover the journeys of inspiring women with male-dominated passions or jobs.)
Ella asked our guests questions, and she asked me if we could also interview the authors behind her heroine, Mortelle Adèle!
Since we were interviewing inspirational women, why not find out more about Adele, who was an inspiration to her and many other children?
So we got in touch with Bayard, publisher of Mortelle Adèle, and on July 6th, we set a date to talk with Antoine Dole, creator and scriptwriter of Mortelle Adèle and Diane Lefeyer, her cartoonist! YES!
They gave us a great gift by sharing this moment with Ella (and me!) and all the future spectators by even reserving her some surprises to discover in our video!
We are very happy to have been able to live this moment and especially to be able to share it here on Pourquoi Princesse.
Antoine Dole, Diane Lefeyer and their extraordinary character, Mortelle Adèle, share loud and clear the values that led us to create Pourquoi Princesse.
Here are two little quotes that we have already shared on social media but that we engrave here because we love them so much!
"But it's completely unfair the princesses have to kill each other to hope to be talked about when the boys become heroes without having to wiggle their fingers!" In Mortelle Adèle au pays des contes défaits at Bayard. Antoine Dole aka Mr Tan
– Diane LeFeyer
"I think it's important to show boys that they can have girls as heroines. And also to show girls that they can become anything they want, like Adèle who will one day be President of the Galaxy!".
Antoine Dole aka Mr Tan, in the 2nd issue of Mortelle Adèle Magazine Magazine.
If you want to know more, go ahead and discover the collection, there's plenty to do! (Only in French for now).
To date, 17 volumes of the graphic novel, 1 book, 4 magazines, extras, specials, games and a whole universe of merchandising products!
Long life to Mortelle Adèle and her whole universe!
