O venkovanech – Sempé Jean-Jacques (2019)

After children, Sempé turned his attention to peasants and their way of life. Jean-Jacques Sempé (*1932) is a French humorous cartoonist. In the Czech Republic, he is famous for his illustrations for the series of books by René Goscinny, Nicholas's Troubles, but he is primarily the author of legendary illustrated books, stories, and jokes. He drew his first jokes and caricatures at the age of twelve, and two years later he left school and took on several temporary jobs: he was a bicycle salesman, a door-to-door seller of powdered toothpaste, an intern at children's camps, and a wine supplier. In the early 1950s, a career as a humorous cartoonist opened up for him. His first drawings were published in the newspaper Sud Ouest. The Belgian radio weekly Le Moustique used several of his drawings on the cover, and Sempé was soon asked to create his own character. He drew a little boy on a bicycle and named him Little Nicholas (after an advertisement for a wine shop called Nicolas). The editor connected him with René Goscinny to create a comic together. This resulted in a series of comic gags that were published weekly in the magazine. A few years later, the first book about Nicholas was released. Since 1953, Sempé has regularly published in several major French newspapers and...