about the book
Author, Frederic Bremaud includes no words in this graphic novel, no big flashy sound effects, no text at all except a short quote at the end of the book. But this is no children’s picture book. It is, after all, about a tiger, a very ferocious and dangerous animal.
The illustrations will draw you into the book and keep you turning page after page. Frederico Bertolucci’s watercolor art work is lush and detailed. Angles change throughout, capturing the tiger and other animals in all sorts of unexpected views.
Deep within a verdant Asian jungle, perhaps in India, a single huge tiger wakes and wanders off to find a meal. Meanwhile, somewhere not too far away, a rare and endangered gray-striped tapir peacefully nibbles his own leafy breakfast. Through the bush, the magnificent tiger spots the unsuspecting animal and watches, ready to bounce.
The chase is on, ending only when the tapir accidentally falls from the edge of the river, landing in the water with a splash. Off it swims, escaping the tiger’s jaws. The tiger won’t let his meal go so easily. Eager to follow his prey, he braves the river only to find that it is guarded by crocodiles and piranhas!
The tiger finds a safe way to cross the river, but still his hunt does not go smoothly. He encounters all sorts of critters, including fire ants, fierce baboons, pesky peacocks, huge anacondas, charging elephants, a pride of panthers, and even a wily red fox (who will be the main character in book two of this series). Still the mighty tiger keeps one eye on the prized tapir, which stays just one step from his grasp. Who will survive and who will perish?
There is no moral to this story, but the end of this book is sudden and violent. You have been warned!
about the author
Frédéric Brémaud was born on March 11, 1973, in Seoul, Korea, but spent most of his childhood in the French area of northern Deux-Sèvres and the island of Noirmoutier.
Still based in France, he is an international freelance writer, editor, and comic book creator. He majored in business at Newcastle University and Institut Universitaire Polytechnique de La Rochelle, and earned a master’s in strategy and marketing from the Université de Poitiers. Upon graduation, he joined the National Cartoon and Image Centre, where he is responsible for creating the image links between French-speaking countries.
A prolific writer for Soleil Comics and many other publishers, he has written about Robin Hood, Alienor, Daffodil, and Banana Kochka Fight as well as several other characters. He and his brother Boris Czerny are working with Giovanni Rigano on the new series Lebaim: Jewish Stories Through Time.
Frédéric is probably best known for his adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace for IDW. You can find his writing also under the pseudonyms Frédéric Brrémaud, Brr, Frédéric Brémaud Alleluia, and Labrémure. He currently divides his time between Paris, the island of Noirmoutier, and Italy.
(The name of the book Love : The Tiger was a little confusing until this epigraph was found at the end of the second book in the series Love : The Fox : “In the animal kingdom, animals neither love nor hate each other. Love and hate are parts of a natural whole. A supreme balance many consider to be universal, or even divine. An elemental love. A love that mankind could never experience.”)
Sources:
Author biography: Babelio (Google Translate)
Author biography: LinkedIn
Author biography: Comic Book Database
Read Mores:
Love : 2 : The Fox with Federico Bertolucci. Magnetic Press. 2015.
about the illustrator
Frederocp Bertolucci, an Italian illustrator and comic artist, received his formal training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara, followed by courses from Disney Academy in Milan. His first published drawings appeared in the weekly Topolino Magazine (Mickey Mouse), and from there, he began collaborating with Disney Italy on the series PK, I gialli di Topolino, and Fairies. These were later adapted into the successful animated movies Monsters, Inc. and Lilo and Stitch. He spent ten years drawing Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
During this time, Federico also began working with comic book publishers in Germany, Denmark, and the United States, and started illustrating children’s picture books. Meanwhile in France, he began working with Frédéric Brémaud on two graphic novels for Soleil Productions, the Richard Coeur de Lion series.
Ten years after Frédéric and Frederico began working together, Frédéric watched as Frederico sketched an elephant. Drawing animals was always easy for Frederico, and Frédéric suddenly realized that he had to come up with some inspired idea to make use of this great talent! One day while drinking a martini on the beach, an idea popped into Frédéric’s head—a wordless book about survival. After all, animals really don’t talk—who needs dialogue! In 2011, Federico won the Grand Guinigi Special Jury Award for his drawings in Love : 1 : The Tiger.
Although Love : 1 : The Tiger is geared to an older, more sophisticated audience, the two collaborators are now at work on a new series, this one for children, entitled Little Stories, a mix of cartoons and illustrations of animals.
Sources:
Illustrator biography: Comic Art Store
Illustrator interview: Amy the Frog Queen
Book Trailer: Amy the Frog Queen
Drawing Videos: Illustrator Blogger page
Also by Federico Bertolucci:
Love : 2 : The Fox with Frederic Bremaud. Magnetic Press. 2015.
read more!
Love : 2 : The Fox by Federico Bertolucci
None of the animals in this wordless graphic novel wears a dress or plays the banjo. They don’t laugh or grieve. They just go about their daily lives in a very brutal world. This story follows a red fox as she hunts for food, evades predators and encounters orcas, elephant seals, musk oxen, rabbits, polar bears, and many more creatures, all while avoiding avalanches and erupting volcanoes.
Primates : The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikasi by Maris Wicks
Three of the greatest primatologists were Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas, all students of the famous Louis Leakey. Jane discovered that chimpanzees use tools; Dian’s work brought attention to the blight of the mountain gorilla; and Birute’s efforts to rehabilitate orphaned orangutans revolutionized rainforest conservation. Their work not only led to advances in primatology but also changed our understanding of what it means to be human.