NICHOLAS

A favorite in France for decades, these 19 tongue-in-cheek tales of daily life as seen through the eyes of an uncritical young everylad will elicit bursts of laughter from children and adults alike. Writing in long, breathless sentences and liberally applying his favorite word, “fantastic!,” Nicholas sunnily recounts a series of quotidian experiences, from his all-boy school’s tumultuous Class Picture Day to disastrous visits from a new School Inspector and a local politician, from a forced playdate with a wimpy, teacher’s-pet classmate to an unhappy encounter with a cigar. Goscinny, better known as a co-creator of Asterix the Gaul, adds violent but somehow non-traumatic melees to each standalone episode, pokes gentle fun at the grownups and closes nearly every chapter with a droll twist. Liberally endowed with Sempé’s tiny, comic cartoon figures, these whimsical mini-adventures will captivate readers who missed their first go-round in English, The Chronicles of Little Nicholas (1993). At least one sequel is scheduled. (Fiction. 9-11)