Pierre & Paul: Avalanche!

Pierre and Paul are neighbors, friends, and explorers. Pierre speaks French and Paul speaks English, but that doesn’t stop them from sharing their adventures. The boys imagine everyday situations into grand exploits—today, they are climbing the Himalayas!

To fuel their journey, they decide to make a mountainous sandwich. Pierre and Paul add ingredients until the sandwich staggers, topples, and…avalanche! Ham and fromage, laitue and cucumber jumble until they become a salad. The boys don’t really like salad…but explorers have to be brave.

This story is told half in French and half in English, with simple phrasing and visual cues in the illustrations making the story easy for early readers to decode in both languages. Illustrations in a loose, colorful style make this vocabulary-learning tool also an engaging story of friendship and imagination.

  • A CCBC Best Book for Kids and Teens 2020 Selection 

Publisher’s link: Owlkids Books

Buy Pierre & Paul: Avalanche! at Amazon.com or find a local bookstore.

Read Caroline Adderson’s interview about Pierre & Paul: Avalanche!

Read Caroline Adderson’s article in Canadian Parents for French Magazine.

FREE! Download Alice Carter’s cute activity sheets!

Praise for Pierre & Paul: Avalanche!

“Instead of presenting a bilingual story with line-by-line translation, this book alternates entire sentences in each language for a unique structure that keeps readers on their toes… Paul, a pale boy with red hair and freckles, speaks English, while Pierre and his mother, both black, speak French—but all characters understand one another. The childlike illustrations combine the boys’ imaginations with their real world… Colorful illustrations, field notes, and cleverly integrated word keys promote comprehension whether readers are fluent in English, French, both, or neither. Very silly and very smart, this distinctive find is worth checking out. “

Kirkus Reviews

“The story celebrates the interplay between languages as well as between the real world and the boys’ imaginary one. Simple phrases that alternate between French and English pair with Alice Carter’s rich visual storytelling – fanciful doodle drawings interspersed with full-colour illustrations – to offer kids a gentle introduction to reading in both languages. The visual clues and parallel narration are well pitched to help encourage young readers’ decoding skills… While bilingual books offering direct translations have long been used as teaching aids, Adderson’s lively and humorous blending of French and English vocabulary offers a unique invitation to play in two languages – an exploration that young readers et ses parents should find hard to resist.”

Quill & Quire (starred review)

“Colorful illustrations, field notes, and cleverly integrated word keys promote comprehension whether readers are fluent in English, French, both, or neither.”

Foreword Reviews (starred review)

“Caroline Adderson’s new picture book offers young readers a chance to explore the world with these two intrepid – and very hungry – young adventurers in a story told in both English and French as they tackle not just the Himalayas, but the challenge of making a truly monumental sandwich to satisfy their mountainous hunger. Alice Carter’s wonderfully boisterous pictures will help readers who are up to the challenge of following Paul and Pierre in this delightful bilingual treat.”

The Globe and Mail

“Paul and Pierre are best friends and explorers who decide to climb a grand mountain but forget the most important item for traveling: snacks!.. Pierre speaks in French and Paul in English, with different actions or items being repeated in both languages so readers understand what is happening. Carter’s ­illustrations also help readers understand the story by providing visuals with both types of words, so that it is generally clear what word goes with what object or action. The illustrations are colorful and fun, filled with details that are humorous and imaginative. Together, Adderson and Carter have created a blend of two languages and an adventure. VERDICT An excellent ­bilingual story for children learning French and ­English.”

School Library Journal

“This story is told half in French and half in English, with simple phrasing and visual cues in the illustrations making the story easy for early readers to decode in both languages. Illustrations in a loose, colorful style make this vocabulary-learning tool also an engaging story of friendship and imagination.”

Children’s Room

Pierre & Paul: Avalanche is a story told from two different languages. What is unique about this story is that both languages carry the story further. Most dual-language stories are just a repetition of the primary language exactly. This is not the case with this story. Instead, the languages piggy-back off of each other, and even at times, the languages are utilized in isolation of each other. The dual-language utilization makes this picture book a challenge! Readers are going go have to infer closely in order to follow the events of the story. I think this is a great trait of the story, and it offers a multicultural experience for readers.”

Open Book

“This book is laugh-out-loud funny and Alice Carter’s illustrations are teeming with amusing details… The strength of this book is that there is no pedagogical message about the multicultural nature of this friendship. Pierre and Paul are friends who have a wonderful adventure and that alone will bring joy to young readers.”

Canadian Children’s Booknews

“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.”

Canadian Materials

“There are many aspects of this book that I loved. What I first noticed is that this book reminds me of early readers where children use context clues to read the words on the page. Because I am not fluent in French, I was able to use the text and the illustrations to determine what was being said… There are also so many illustrations that follow the text and help with words being used in the story–food items, hiking supplies, etc…. [A] cute story and a great way to learn a little French.”

Youth Services Review Blog

“There are explorers and then there’s Pierre and Paul. Other explorers might go out and climb a mountain, but not these two; they build a mountain in the comfort of their very own home. Pierre speaks French and Paul speaks English, but that doesn’t stop them from being best friends. One day, when hunger strikes, the two buddies decide they’re going to build a towering sandwich, as tall as a mountain. When it comes crashing down, just like an avalanche, their sandwich turns into salad, but Pierre and Paul are unfazed. Alternating between French and English and accompanied by amusing illustrations, Pierre & Paul: Avalanche! is as much a story about friendship as it is a vocabulary-learning tool for early learners of both languages.”

—Vancouver Writers Fest Books & Ideas

“Alice Cartier’s vivacious illustrations are integral to Adderson’s quirky narratives. The illustrations function on at least three levels. They explain, complement, and reinforce the action of the plot — particularly helpful on occasions when kids may otherwise find the language with which they are less familiar puzzling. The drawings also bolster the light tone; for example, the boys wear matching mismatched socks. Finally, some of the visuals are rendered as the boys’ own imaginings of their adventures, drawn with a child-like hand; these rudimentary drawings of snorkelling, hot air ballooning, and dragon slaying add a layer that is at once realistic and expressionistic.”

The Ormsby Review