Today, let me introduce to Aleksandra and Stéphane – the founders of the publishing house Les Crocos and the authors of the book “Le voyage à Lyon”. I will be honest. I am very jealous of their idea as the book for kids they wrote and published, is simply the most creative, educational, interesting thing for kids in Lyon I have ever seen! Read more about their amazing concept and go straight to the shop to get yourself a copy. I got two!
Who you are?
We are Stéphane and Alexandra. Stéphane is from Lyon, Alexandra is Hungarian. We have been living in Lyon (9ème) for about fifteen years.
Alexandra has two boys, aged 9 and 11, who actively participated in the construction of our first book, written “at the level of a child mind” and translated into English as ‘A Stopover in Lyon’.
Stéphane is a journalist. He works for the alternative media on ecological issues. Alexandra used to work in finance, before changing jobs completely and becoming an author and editor. She went from accounts to stories 🙂
For more information, check here: Qui sommes nous ? (editionslescrocos.com)
When did you start?
We set up our publishing house (Editions les Crocos) in April 2021 after two years of work on our first book. We are preparing others. Since then, we have more than 80 sales outlets, mainly independent bookshops in the region, but also museums and some eco-responsible shops that support local actors.
But why?/What for?
We have been looking for a long time for a book on Lyon to introduce the city to our children in a fun and educational way. We have found very few books for the age group we are aiming for (5-9 years). We love Lyon and the region in which we live, and it is this love that we would like to pass on to the next generation. We absolutely wanted to have it translated into English, not only for the tourists, but also for all the Anglo-Saxon families who live in the region and for the little French children who are learning English at a younger and younger age at school.
Who are your colleagues?/What is your Team?
Our illustrator is Sylvère Jouin. His artist name is Le Cil Vert. His talent, his humour, his availability and his experience were essential for a very small publishing house like us. This is his first children’s book, but you will find his style if you know his comics for adults: http://www.lecilvert.com/
For the translation, we worked with Lorraine Batta, a British mother who has lived in Lyon for 15 years. She put all her heart into it. She slept with our book and woke up with ideas for wordplay and rhymes! She then submitted her translation to the critical eye of these two bilingual children. A real chance for us!
To help us create our logo and website, we worked with two people from Lyon: Thomas Bourgeois and Fabien Grignoux. If you like our website, it is thanks to them.
What is the idea?/How does it work?
The story: 3 little storks on migration stop in Lyon after a flight incident. They only want to leave as soon as possible because they think there is nothing to do here… But a series of events will make them change their minds. With their new friends, they will set off on a playful tour of the city and have lots of adventures!
The idea? To allow children to identify with the characters and to make them want to visit the city in their own way, following in the footsteps of the three storks.
Bonus: at the end of the book, we’ve drawn a small book of simplified maps to find your way around the city. We know families who walk around Lyon with our book under their arm because their children want to see all the places where the storks have been 🙂
You can find our book (in French and English) in bookshops / museums etc. in Lyon.
You can also buy it directly from us: here. If you order from our site, send us a short email to contact@editionslescrocos.com with the word “AGA”. We will send you 2 postcards as gifts with the book.
