Pierre & Paul: Avalanche! A Story Told in Two Languages = Une Histoire Racontée en Deux Langues

In this first-of-its-kind dual-language book, French-speaking Pierre and English-speaking Paul, looking for adventures, create a very tall sandwich in Pierre’s kitchen. When the sandwich is as tall as a mountain, it collapses. Pierre gathers the ingredients into a bowl, and the two enjoy their snack, despite Paul’s dislike of salad.

Unlike a typical dual-language book, consisting of parallel translations of the same story, this exciting book weaves a single story, with dialogue, lists, and narration in alternating languages, often depending on who is speaking. The effect is wondrous. Through repetition, simple words, expressive illustrations, and only very occasional translation, children speaking either language will easily grasp the wonder of the story. This is a book tailor-made for reading aloud where even the adult reader does not need to be fluent in both languages. In fact, it would make an ideal first day read in a French Immersion classroom.

The illustrations are simple and charming, filled with endless possibilities to explore bilingual vocabulary, notably various foods used in the sandwich. The text is sparse, but the possibilities to embellish the telling and invite participation of listeners are endless. Pierre is depicted as Black and Paul White, adding to the notion of Canadian unity. It’s probably one of the first picture books where couscous—yes, Pierre’s mother cooks couscous for their sandwich—plays a supporting role, giving another opportunity to talk about the wonders of food. Even the use of English quotation marks versus French guillemets (and the long dash for a conversation between Pierre and his mother) provides an opportunity for a very early grammar lesson.

The turning point of the story is when Paul realizes they now have a salad, and he doesn’t like salad:

“That’s not a sandwich,” Paul says. “It’s a salad. I don’t like salad.”

« Les explorateurs doivent être braves. »

Pierre manages to gently show Paul that, to be a brave explorer, he needs to try new foods. A charming ending to a story that is light but creates so many possibilities—dans toutes les deux langues officielles!