Michel Piquemal and Patrice Cartier tell children about Prehistory, in the Histoire collection in mind, with “In the secrets of the caves”.
It is a small pocket book, which plunges into the twists and turns of history, 8,000 years ago. Prehistory, more precisely, a period of which the Biterrois Michel Piquemal, youth writer, with more than 200 titles, and the Carcassonnais Patrice Cartier are keen. “It all started there. They created cultures. You can recognize periods within a hundred years, thanks to a pottery. I wanted to invent a story from mines that really exist.”
In the secret of the caves is aimed at children aged 8 to 12. Through two stories, these 62 pages tell a young boy’s hunting trip. She brings him to the Aldène cave in Hérault. He discovered the drawings of animals on the walls. He too will leave traces of his passage there.
The cover of the little book should appeal to children.
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In the second story, a little girl, Tania, will use the magic of green stones to change the role of women in an era that was believed to be patriarchal. “We put on a female heroine, because we know today that women had an important role. This is one of the things that we are reconsidering today.”
A visit to the Aldène cave in Hérault
Michel Piquemal has teamed up with Patrice Cartier and illustrator Priscille Mathieu. The first lives in the Minervois where traces of the presence of man, since the most distant times, are numerous. Patrice Cartier is passionate about this period. A visit to the Aldène cave, in the Cesse gorges, near Minerva, inspired him with the first story. He has already published in the classic collection in mind, The Wizard of Oz, the grizzly bear, Journey to the Center of the Earth and the Voyage of Ulysses.
Priscille Mathieu, also passionate about Prehistory, is an author of children’s comics, Ticayou, the little Cro-Magnon, published in Milan, and historical comics. She also produces illustrations for publishing, the press, museums … The trio’s little book will feed the history lessons. The children will no doubt be moved to see the photo of these traces of little feet in the Aldene cave.
Michel Piquemal: “They had their fashions.”
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Michel Piquemal: “The same flaws and qualities as us”
Michel Piquemal, why this fascination with Prehistory?
I was passionate about the Amerindians for a long time, following trips to the United States. I realized that their ways of living were similar. I have written about ten books on the subject. I am also a stone collector. And as I taught for 15 years, I like to transmit, to talk about it in schools.
What message do you want to get across?
How complex. We amalgamate Lucy’s time, several million years ago, and that of the sapiens peoples who finally lived almost like us. There are strong moments and in particular the passage from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic, from hunter-gatherers to the settlement of population. The pivotal period is called the Mesolithic, around 8,000 years old, with the arrival of peoples from the East.
Are our ways of living so different?
These are extremely modern times. They move, circulate. There are fashions, chefs who want to shine. Jade axes that came from Italy. They love the beautiful. They ultimately had the same qualities and faults as us. The human being has invariants.
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