My beloved Tintin albums exist in a 17 x 22 cm format (barely bulkier than an iPad mini). Every schoolchild, closer to 7 than 77, should have access to them: through municipal libraries, bookmobiles, or even satchels filled with books carried by a volunteer on a mule from village to village… Life isn’t just about consoles, tablets, or e-readers. I love this cartoon strip that tries to convert a Gen Z youth to reading: “No need to press ON, and it never turns off”…
At age 7, it was at ‘La Librairie de Madagascar’ in Analakely that I discovered my first Tintin books, in the 22 x 30 cm format. More than 40 years later, with a pleasure mixed with tenderness, I found some again at ‘La Librairie de Madagascar’ in Majunga. And I bought them, for the joy of it. Much of it was for the memories, too. My last visit to the Boina region was a while ago, because the RN4 was no longer a road but a total disgrace, but the bookstore doors were closed.
Now that I am much closer to 77 than to 7, I can surely offer some advice to children:
Something always remains from reading a book, be it from the ‘Bibliothèque rose’, ‘Bibliothèque verte’, or even ‘Série Noire’. A certain generation might have been into Naruto or Dragon Ball, which supposedly also exist in the ‘Bibliothèque verte’ series. My era leaned more towards ‘The Famous Five’, ‘The Six Companions’, or ‘Buffalo Bill’. My thanks again to the Petit Collège library at Saint-Michel.
At 7 years old, it is better to give Tintin as a gift. We knew by heart the title and the cover art of each album, whose vignettes on the back cover made us want to read them all. You had to have read ‘The Seven Crystal Balls’ to understand ‘Prisoners of the Sun’. Knowing that Captain Haddock only appears in ‘The Crab with the Golden Claws’ (No. 8), while the Thompsons were there from the very first panel of the very first opus, ‘Tintin in the Congo’. Remembering that Rastapopoulos returns in four of the twenty-two albums that originally decorated the last page: excluding ‘Tintin in the Land of the Soviets’, ‘Tintin and the Alph-Art’, or ‘Tintin and the Lake of Sharks’.
A single book, for a whole world of memories and evocations. Tintin to learn French, but perhaps Asterix to imitate the drawing style of Albert Uderzo. A rite of passage to continue with the less ‘kawaii’ drawings of Bob Morane, Buck Danny, or Blueberry. At 77, to infinity and beyond.
Nasolo-Valiavo Andriamihaja
Captured & Published at: 2026-06-25 07:00:17 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/06/des-livres-de-7-77-ans.html