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四季
！每一幅插画，都是一件艺术品 ！
！一本严格对标艺术品标准才做出来的书 ！
★ “世界最美的书”金奖获得者Blexbolex代表作
★ 荷兰“金画笔”大奖
★ 《纽约时报》书评周刊十佳绘本
★《出版人周刊》+《美国学校图书馆杂志》联合推荐图书
★ 美国国家公共电台（NPR）2010年夏季阅读精选书单推荐
春风春鸟，秋月秋蝉，夏云曙雨，冬月祁寒，在一本书中体会四个季节的美好瞬间，欣赏人们消磨时间或挽留时间的种种姿态……这是一首描画自然与人们、岁月与生命的四季之诗。
180幅如梦似幻的精美版画作品，特定4种PANTONE专色印刷而成，结合传统丝网印刷效果的新工艺，画面层次丰富细腻，加以温暖的复古设计和低调的时尚感，是艺术爱好者、插画师、设计师的珍藏之选。
本书是“世界最美的书”金奖得主Blexbolex的绘本作品，被评为《纽约时报》年度十佳绘本，8种语言翻译出版，大胆而极具天赋的图像世界，完美诠释了自然之美、对生活的热爱、对自我的重新发现。
！一本严格对标艺术品标准才做出来的书 ！
★ “世界最美的书”金奖获得者Blexbolex代表作
★ 荷兰“金画笔”大奖
★ 《纽约时报》书评周刊十佳绘本
★《出版人周刊》+《美国学校图书馆杂志》联合推荐图书
★ 美国国家公共电台（NPR）2010年夏季阅读精选书单推荐
春风春鸟，秋月秋蝉，夏云曙雨，冬月祁寒，在一本书中体会四个季节的美好瞬间，欣赏人们消磨时间或挽留时间的种种姿态……这是一首描画自然与人们、岁月与生命的四季之诗。
180幅如梦似幻的精美版画作品，特定4种PANTONE专色印刷而成，结合传统丝网印刷效果的新工艺，画面层次丰富细腻，加以温暖的复古设计和低调的时尚感，是艺术爱好者、插画师、设计师的珍藏之选。
本书是“世界最美的书”金奖得主Blexbolex的绘本作品，被评为《纽约时报》年度十佳绘本，8种语言翻译出版，大胆而极具天赋的图像世界，完美诠释了自然之美、对生活的热爱、对自我的重新发现。
184 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2009
3 people are currently reading
330 people want to read
About the author
Blexbolex
41 books59 followersBlexbolex is a French comics artist and illustrator. Born Bernard Granger in Douai, he studied screen printing (sérigraphie) at the School of Fine Arts (L’école européenne supérieure de l'image) in Angoulême. His first works were self-published, and later he contributed to Popo Color, Fusée, and Ferraille. His highly stylized, ligne claire illustration, inspired by the films of Jacques Tati and whodunits of the 1950s and 1960s, gradually gained an audience. In Germany, he directed an art studio at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee (School of Art and Design Berlin-Weissensee) and he also worked regularly with a number of editors, including Thierry Magnier, Pipifax, United Dead Artists, Les Requins-Marteaux, and Cornélius. Blexbolex has contributed to the American publication The Ganzfeld.
In 2009, he received a prize for “Best Book Design of the World” for his L'Imagier des gens (2008) at the Book Fair of Leipzig.
Source: Wikipedia.
In 2009, he received a prize for “Best Book Design of the World” for his L'Imagier des gens (2008) at the Book Fair of Leipzig.
Source: Wikipedia.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
January 14, 2011
I think this is going to be one of those books you will either love or find a bit odd. It's a collection of one or two-word things or events that happen in the seasons, accompanied by an illustration. The two page spreads usually go well together, such as "Cocoon" on one and "Butterfly" on the other, or "Swim" and "Sunburn". But some were more puzzling such as "Tee" (for t-shirt) next to "Watermelon"; both obviously summer things but I don't see the direct relation. Or, even more odd, "Accident" (with a car smashed into a tree) and "Hay bales" next to that...? I'm giving this three stars because it is definitely unique artwork and I can appreciate the effort even if I did not especially like it. It's also always exciting for me when a book from another country (in this case, France) makes it into the US.
March 15, 2018
Simple words with complex illustrations.
Read
December 29, 2023The art is beautiful, moving and inspiring. Would very much love to recreate the pieces in my free time.
One thing I didn’t enjoy is the climate crisis talk. It is just me, though, I am super sensitive towards this topic.
October 27, 2012
Retro and artsy, these silkscreen designs would look more at home on Etsy or a hipster's apartment wall than bound together in a children's picture book. I loved it.
Veg*n parents note: This book contains a "Hunting" and "Fishing" page, with illustrations of people engaging in the aforementioned activities. It also shows a mounted deer "trophy" head for the word "Memento."
Veg*n parents note: This book contains a "Hunting" and "Fishing" page, with illustrations of people engaging in the aforementioned activities. It also shows a mounted deer "trophy" head for the word "Memento."
April 7, 2017
A charming exploration of the interconnectedness of the seasons, with minimalist illustrations. While at first glance the illustrations may appear simplistic, they show a careful study of light and shadow. The secondary colors resulting from the overlapping primary colors are a delight to spot, and, if reading with children, would serve as visually instructive lessons about color combinations. Take your time reading through it and notice how certain elements repeat or reappear. For example, the pattern of the dandelion is identical to the burst of the fireworks. While timeless in its relevance, the book has a styling reminiscent of the 1960s. Even the paper has a nice texture to it, not at all glossy and cold.
August 7, 2020
Just gorgeous. I want all of these as framed prints for my living room, please.
April 23, 2018
Love the illustrations!
September 2, 2016
Created by Blexbolex, a French comics artist, Seasons is a picture book containing a series of colorful, retro-style prints depicting a vast variety of concepts. Each picture is labeled in block letters with what it portrays: DISASTER, SUNBURN, DEBRIS, COCOON, FLOOD.
I was drawn to the book at first because the New York Times included it on its list of Best illustrated Children's Books of 2010, along with some other books I loved, like Busing Brewster, and Henry In Love. I loved the image the article featured, entitled "Traffic Jam," which depicted a series of cars traveling bumper to bumper down a winding road.
But it wasn't until I had the book in hand that I began to fully realize what it is. I expected a series of connected illustrations, and a story arc to tie them all together. This is not that. Some of the illustrations are connected to one another. Each of them hints at a particular season of the year, which is what ties the book together, but there is no definitive beginning, middle, or end. It's just a book, filled with cool pictures of various concepts.
And that's not a criticism. As skeptical as I was of the need for a book like this, and as puzzled as I was about who the intended audience was, this book is really cool, and somehow, though I'm still not entirely sure why, it invoked a really strong sense of nostalgia in me. The images reminded me of being in kindergarten, when everything in the classroom is labeled, so kids can see the words associated with everyday objects. I could easily picture Blexbolex's work hanging above a classroom blackboard, or in a school hallway.
But it's also not just a simple children's book. Many of the concepts portrayed in this book are deeper than mere vocabulary, and I found myself poring over particular pages, just admiring the way this artist puts shapes and colors together. The raindrops bouncing off a makeshift newspaper hat on the page marked DOWNPOUR, the recurrence of a red house in various weather conditions and states of peril, and the angry red streaks of SUNBURN are just a handful of the many interesting and pleasing visuals this book offers.
Seasons is not something you can read in the traditional sense, but it is definitely a book that can truly appeal to all ages. I recommend taking a look at it; it's something different, and in this case, different is good.
I was drawn to the book at first because the New York Times included it on its list of Best illustrated Children's Books of 2010, along with some other books I loved, like Busing Brewster, and Henry In Love. I loved the image the article featured, entitled "Traffic Jam," which depicted a series of cars traveling bumper to bumper down a winding road.
But it wasn't until I had the book in hand that I began to fully realize what it is. I expected a series of connected illustrations, and a story arc to tie them all together. This is not that. Some of the illustrations are connected to one another. Each of them hints at a particular season of the year, which is what ties the book together, but there is no definitive beginning, middle, or end. It's just a book, filled with cool pictures of various concepts.
And that's not a criticism. As skeptical as I was of the need for a book like this, and as puzzled as I was about who the intended audience was, this book is really cool, and somehow, though I'm still not entirely sure why, it invoked a really strong sense of nostalgia in me. The images reminded me of being in kindergarten, when everything in the classroom is labeled, so kids can see the words associated with everyday objects. I could easily picture Blexbolex's work hanging above a classroom blackboard, or in a school hallway.
But it's also not just a simple children's book. Many of the concepts portrayed in this book are deeper than mere vocabulary, and I found myself poring over particular pages, just admiring the way this artist puts shapes and colors together. The raindrops bouncing off a makeshift newspaper hat on the page marked DOWNPOUR, the recurrence of a red house in various weather conditions and states of peril, and the angry red streaks of SUNBURN are just a handful of the many interesting and pleasing visuals this book offers.
Seasons is not something you can read in the traditional sense, but it is definitely a book that can truly appeal to all ages. I recommend taking a look at it; it's something different, and in this case, different is good.
October 7, 2014
This is one of those books where I'm not even how to start talking about it.
Blexbolex (or BLEXBOLEX?) is a French artist. Blexbolex makes prints and is almost impossible to find online. According to Ask.com/Wikipedia he was previously a French comics artist. One of his other books called L'Imagier des gens was awarded the prize for "Best Book Design of the World" in 2008 at the Book Fair in Leipzig.
Seasons (2010) is his latest book. It has been brought to the US and translated into English.
Essentially Seasons is a series of pictures cycling through different seasons. One or two words are written across the top of the page in large, bold, pink letters and a corresponding image (which I think are made with some form of printmaking) is displayed below the words. Some of the images and phrases are straightforward (swim, sunburn) and some are more whimsical (caterpillar crawl, siesta).
The book has an interesting idea and, frankly, this review might be the only one you'll ever read that isn't glowing. That said, the whole thing felt very disjointed. While eventually the cycle of images and seasons does eventually order itself into some kind of sense, a lot of the pairings on each two page spread felt, for lack of a better word, random (especially in the first pages).
Blexbolex's prints are interesting and, given the medium, fairly intricate, but on a whole the work was grim with an image of a forest fire and a car accident including among images of summer fruits and winter snow. Seasons is a clever book even including a nod to Manet's famous painting "Luncheon on the Grass" in one image but this is one book that ultimately felt a little too clever.
This book was received for review from the publisher, Enchanted Lion Books.
Blexbolex (or BLEXBOLEX?) is a French artist. Blexbolex makes prints and is almost impossible to find online. According to Ask.com/Wikipedia he was previously a French comics artist. One of his other books called L'Imagier des gens was awarded the prize for "Best Book Design of the World" in 2008 at the Book Fair in Leipzig.
Seasons (2010) is his latest book. It has been brought to the US and translated into English.
Essentially Seasons is a series of pictures cycling through different seasons. One or two words are written across the top of the page in large, bold, pink letters and a corresponding image (which I think are made with some form of printmaking) is displayed below the words. Some of the images and phrases are straightforward (swim, sunburn) and some are more whimsical (caterpillar crawl, siesta).
The book has an interesting idea and, frankly, this review might be the only one you'll ever read that isn't glowing. That said, the whole thing felt very disjointed. While eventually the cycle of images and seasons does eventually order itself into some kind of sense, a lot of the pairings on each two page spread felt, for lack of a better word, random (especially in the first pages).
Blexbolex's prints are interesting and, given the medium, fairly intricate, but on a whole the work was grim with an image of a forest fire and a car accident including among images of summer fruits and winter snow. Seasons is a clever book even including a nod to Manet's famous painting "Luncheon on the Grass" in one image but this is one book that ultimately felt a little too clever.
This book was received for review from the publisher, Enchanted Lion Books.
June 12, 2010
You are familiar with this creature Blexbolex, non? This French illustrator who works in line and silk screen?
Me neither, and Oh My God how have I missed this guy? But wait - I see that he did the illustrations for the recent edition of I Know How to Cook (http://www.designspongeonline.com/200...), and that was one big honkin doorstop of a cookbook (and it is French) but I almost had to have it anyway, because of those illustrations.
Seasons is another giant honkin book, but with one word per page, I think I can take it. Especially as it means I get to roll around in a couple hundred of Blexbolex's fatly drawn, meticulously colored screen prints. You should see his plum. Gotta be seven colors in there, just to get the perfect brown-purple-red blush and highlight.
Concrete nouns like plum and pool are joined by more conceptual words, like abundance or torrent, each set out in friendly red sans-serif capital letters. The entire book could have been made in the 1930's and just rediscovered now.
Something to savor, something to give as a gift. There will always be something new to see in this book
Me neither, and Oh My God how have I missed this guy? But wait - I see that he did the illustrations for the recent edition of I Know How to Cook (http://www.designspongeonline.com/200...), and that was one big honkin doorstop of a cookbook (and it is French) but I almost had to have it anyway, because of those illustrations.
Seasons is another giant honkin book, but with one word per page, I think I can take it. Especially as it means I get to roll around in a couple hundred of Blexbolex's fatly drawn, meticulously colored screen prints. You should see his plum. Gotta be seven colors in there, just to get the perfect brown-purple-red blush and highlight.
Concrete nouns like plum and pool are joined by more conceptual words, like abundance or torrent, each set out in friendly red sans-serif capital letters. The entire book could have been made in the 1930's and just rediscovered now.
Something to savor, something to give as a gift. There will always be something new to see in this book
December 21, 2011
Paging through this long series of full-page or full-spread serialized graphic seasonal scenes and iconic images feels like cruising through dreams, such quality that will draw viewers into the rhythms of each season.
It's simply because everything about Seasons is enticing. It’s a gorgeously presented book with thick art-paper pages, rich color and superb illustrations, designed and dedicated for artists, book designers and, obviously, children!
At the start we are offered the four seasons in four double-page depictions, and from then on the seasons are represented with a word and an image in no particular order. So settle down with your child or your children and let them guess which picture is what season; or make up a story with them about the picture.
In short, Seasons is everything a book should be.
It's simply because everything about Seasons is enticing. It’s a gorgeously presented book with thick art-paper pages, rich color and superb illustrations, designed and dedicated for artists, book designers and, obviously, children!
At the start we are offered the four seasons in four double-page depictions, and from then on the seasons are represented with a word and an image in no particular order. So settle down with your child or your children and let them guess which picture is what season; or make up a story with them about the picture.
In short, Seasons is everything a book should be.
June 13, 2010
Bold colors and layered silkscreen illustrations enhance this unusual book about the seasons and life.
February 3, 2011
This is SO fabulous!!!! The illustrations are just amazing and the "story" is really interesting! Take a look at this one!
July 26, 2016
Really great, beautifully designed. Whenever I tidy up the kids section, I keep swapping other books out of the display in favor of this one.
December 28, 2023
Yet another Enchanted Lion wordless picture book, again from French Blexbolex. What would you expect in a book titled Seasons? Words, images describing things that are familiar to us about each season, arranged in order of chronology. But nope, Blex uses no words, and juxtaposes images at first seemingly randomly that show the interconnections between seasons, about ecology:
Drought-Blaze
Left Behind-Homecoming
Glum-Treat
Yeah, you sometimes have to work at it to see a seasonal connection, but that's part of the fun, solving the mystery of the meaning. Ah, he's not just showing us one of the fours seasons! He's also showing us different things you go through in your life as the environment also does!
Some large two page spreads are impressive: Spring Fever, Pruning, Twilight, Growing Up
Block prints, colorful, thoughtful. But not warm and cuddly. The people depicted have no faces, lending it a slightly alien, stilted effect. But it's more about thinking than feeling, I think, so maybe that's appropriate.
Drought-Blaze
Left Behind-Homecoming
Glum-Treat
Yeah, you sometimes have to work at it to see a seasonal connection, but that's part of the fun, solving the mystery of the meaning. Ah, he's not just showing us one of the fours seasons! He's also showing us different things you go through in your life as the environment also does!
Some large two page spreads are impressive: Spring Fever, Pruning, Twilight, Growing Up
Block prints, colorful, thoughtful. But not warm and cuddly. The people depicted have no faces, lending it a slightly alien, stilted effect. But it's more about thinking than feeling, I think, so maybe that's appropriate.
September 27, 2022
When I first saw Seasons in my new book box I moaned "What in the heck was I thinking ordering that?" It only took a few turns of the pages to get the "ahh" moment. Blexbolex's new book is a seasonal feast for the eyes. His use of colors in creating the screen prints bring the images alive and intrigue the mind. The pages take the reader through the seasons catching glimpses of such things as watermelon, traffic jams, delight and silence. You come round again and go through the year which may cause a bit of confusion in the flow, but a note at the end explains "Blexbolex got lost for a while in the pages of his books. He has needed two summers, an autumn, a winter, a spring, several storms and a lot of sunshine to rediscover the seasons for himself." Pick up the book, and rediscover the seasons for yourself too!
January 20, 2024
This book is a nice, interesting surprise. It is a large book both in dimensions and pages, if you are thinking of it as a child’s picture book. It IS a picture book, but somehow makes me question the ‘child’ part, although a child certainly could enjoy it.
A GR friend said these illustrations are block prints. They are captivating. It is interesting to watch the seasons change and some other changes in the familiar landscape.
There are relationships between the 2 facing pages. I did not understand them all, unless they were as superficial as I supposed.
The book goes through a couple of seasonal evolutions, beginning and ending with spring.
I wish my library had more of these Blexbolex books; they only have one other.
A GR friend said these illustrations are block prints. They are captivating. It is interesting to watch the seasons change and some other changes in the familiar landscape.
There are relationships between the 2 facing pages. I did not understand them all, unless they were as superficial as I supposed.
The book goes through a couple of seasonal evolutions, beginning and ending with spring.
I wish my library had more of these Blexbolex books; they only have one other.
March 21, 2019
I went through this book once, but knew then that I needed to delve into it more deeply. I finally made time, but even after poring over it, I'm sure there are more connections to be made. Blexbolex takes us through a few cycles of the seasons. Each go round captures images that provide a captioned snapshot of an event. Some, like leaves changing colours in fall and nests in spring, are predictable. Then in the middle of one season is, unexpectedly, a car crash, reminding us that our lives and deaths are inextricably linked to these perpetually cycling seasons.
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December 14, 2025My favorite Blexbolex work. His mastery of printmaking is on full display and he has an excellent grasp of pacing. Less skillful authors might group all the categories in four sections by seasons, but through a certain balance of similar and unlike grouping of motifs with each page, Blexbolex lays out a truer version of life and seasons and the realizations of emotions and memories that need time to be understood. I read it 3 times back to back.
June 2, 2017
I really like the mix of simple and complex words and accompanying pictures. Concepts and objects, this is a very unique book. Definitely one to page through more than once, but not really a book to read front to back page by page. We enjoyed bopping around. Definitely would pick up again & would be good at talking about or starting conversations.
Read
December 2, 2017This is classic, a kind of visual dictionary in modern art style. I loved the art for so many reasons but with so many people depicted, I wish the only brown faces weren't on "fruit pickers" and the "parade." A product of its time I guess (1950s). Oh wait, it's published 2009. Groan.
I could see this kind of work being interesting to use with adult ESL learners.
I could see this kind of work being interesting to use with adult ESL learners.
February 18, 2025
More of a children's book than any kind of comic book or graphic novel, Seasons chronicles nature over the course of the year. One word and on illustration a page, mostly. It's presented as some sort of image book for kids, except he weaves some loose stories between some of the illustrations. It's poetic, sometimes funny, but mostly kind of eh. The drawings are gorgeous though, very creative.
August 16, 2018
French arthouse kids book that I read in ten minutes on break at work and am still trying to process. The art is gorgeous, but I'm still trying to figure out what the car crash drawing has to do with seasons.
September 30, 2018
Cute. The illustrations made me think the book was from the 60’s-70’s. One word per page. Great for practicing sight words and the size of it definitely made my little one feel proud he read so many pages.
September 25, 2019
Red 2nd
I love this book. Could be a child's 1st book but even I was compelled to keep turning pages. The pictures are beautiful, interesting, intricate, simple. The words that go w/ the pictures foster conversation & learning. I am intrigued, looking forward to more Blexbolex.
I love this book. Could be a child's 1st book but even I was compelled to keep turning pages. The pictures are beautiful, interesting, intricate, simple. The words that go w/ the pictures foster conversation & learning. I am intrigued, looking forward to more Blexbolex.
May 16, 2017
Nektere obrazy a jejich navaznost byly skvele,ale nektere jsem drobet nepochopila, asi je to az pro moc velke intelektualy
December 26, 2019
Krásný:)
January 22, 2020
I own this book. One of my go to reads for relaxing. I see and feel something new or old every time I read it. Highly recommended.
December 1, 2023
Great art, not a strong layout or concept.
December 29, 2023
Would have loved this strange word-picture association book as a kid. Now that magic is mostly gone.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews