December 15, 2022

GOTCHA!

Gotcha! by Clotilde Perrin and translated by Daniel Hahn is an oversized, lift-the-flap book about fairy tales and finding your inner power.



Follow a child who is hiding from monsters in different fairy tales. A hairball monster appears, and the child is forced to hide in the Three Little Pigs' brick home. And then just when the kid thinks they're safe, a stinkwart appears and chases them into Sleeping Beauty's palace, followed by a creeper who corners the kid in Hansel and Gretel's gingerbread house (post witch-roasting, of course). Eventually, though, the child realizes that the monsters are only scary because no one has stood up to them before, so they stand their ground and save the day.


Every other spread features a full-bleed image of the monster on the recto page and a brightly colored verso page with hand-written text by Katrina Duncan. In between these spreads, though, is where the real fun lives: every new fairy tale location provides a new series of flaps and die-cuts for readers to interact with as they peel apart layers of each house. Hidden within the flaps of the different settings are funny objects, jokes, and even our protagonist, who is clearly working through some internal fears by reading fairy tales (you can't miss them literally starting their own book on the title page!). The illustrations are mixed media and chock-full of references for readers of all ages and cultures to explore.


Gotcha! published in October from Gecko Press! You can also read an interview I did a little while back with Clotilde about her illustration process here!


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