Tib & Tumtum 1: Welcome to the Tribe!
Age 7+
Comic Strip Fiction / Graphic Novels
Written and illustrated by The ElseWhere Chronicles artist Bannister and his wife Flo Grimaldi, this series should push all the right buttons. It has: a little boy with an "imaginary" friend; plenty of jokes; goofy, loving adults; a Calvin & Hobbes vibe; and a big red dinosaur.
In a prehistoric era, Tib, a boy who is made fun of for his birthmark and his clumsiness, makes friends with Tumtum, a big, playful red dinosaur only he ever sees. As large as Tumtum is, he's very clever at hiding from grownups. The grownups insist that the last dinosaur disappeared ages ago. The only other person who believes Tib is Kara, a little girl who annoyingly tags along even though she's scared of the dinosaur. When Tumtum saves the tribe's kids from a pack of hungry wolves in front of the startled grownups, the shaman decides it's time to welcome a dinosaur into the
tribe.
Creators
Grimaldi is both a writer and a colorist. Born in 1975, she studied foreign languages at the University of Lyon and communication at the Lyon Ecole des Beaux-Arts. She collaborated with her husband, Bannister, on short stories for the graphic novel anthology Flight and is the colorist for his series Titoss et Ilda (Dupuis). She is the colorist for Tib & Tumtum as well.
Bannister was born in 1973 and has been creating graphic novels since the age of 17. He is the illustrator of the popular Tib & Tumtum series and The ElseWhere Chronicles series. His work has also appeared in Flight Explorer (Villard Books/Random House) and several editions of the Flight anthology.
