Raymond
Age 3+
Picture Storybooks
This is the story of Raymond – an ordinary dog who, for a while, lives an extraordinary life.
What if dogs could walk and talk and go to work? Well, Raymond the dog has big ambitions beyond his ordinary, canine life in the big city. He wants to take himself for a walk and get his own dinner. And when he’s done all that? Well, he wants a job, just like his owners. But when Raymond begins a high-flying journalism career at Dogue magazine, he soon realizes it’s no walk in the park…
With a stylish limited palette and incredible visual humour, children and adults alike will fall in love with Raymond and his laugh-out-loud antics in this absurdly original – yet highly relatable – world.
Creators
Gwendal Le Bec and Yann Le Bec are artistic brothers from Brittany, France, who have both pursued careers in illustration. Gwendal graduated from the Paris School of Fashion, Design and Creation in 2008, before going on to make books with French children’s publishing houses, Gallimard Jeunesse and Albin Michel Jeunesse. He has also worked on editorial and advertising projects, his clients including The New Yorker, The New York Times and Feuilleton.
Yann is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, London, who has illustrated an edition of Clive James’ Unreliable Memoirs and has been commissioned by clients including Esquire and King's College London.
The siblings joined forces on the picture book Danny, and, along with fellow French illustrator and good friend Jean Jullien, founded the blog, News of the Times. Yann and Gwendal now live in London. Find Gwendal online at gwendallebec.com and on Twitter as @gwendallebec, and Yann online at yannlebec.com.
Reviews
“The message won’t be lost on adult readers while children will delight in Raymond’s extraordinary adventures.”
Andrea Reece, LoveReading
“This funny, ‘be careful what you wish for’,‘ don’t bite off more than you can chew’ tale, with its New York setting, will resonate with adults as much as children, or perhaps more. The trouble is though, it’s not necessarily all that easy to step off that workaholic, achievement treadmill, which seems always to be driving us onwards towards greater heights . . . There’s plenty to make readers – be they or be they not dog lovers – smile in the comic style scenes of a life as a top dog.”
Red Reading Hub
