Hello, Mr. Hulot

by David Merveille

The French comedy character who inspired Mr. Bean, in a wordless comic strip story for children!

Meet Mr. Hulot—he's always in the middle of the action! Created and played by French comic actor and filmmaker Jacques Tati, Mr. Hulot is a beloved charater in France.

David Merveille’s comic strip style illustrations depict 23 captivating scenes with a page turn that builds suspense for each surprise ending. From buying a snow globe on a warm summer day—shaking it—and causing the sky to snow, to a crazy visit to the zoo where Mr. Hulot has something in common with every animal at the zoo—Merveille’s creations are a delight to the observant and curious eye.

Genres: Picture Books, Humor, Childrens, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Film

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2013

Reviews

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful comic trifles. I watched and enjoyed Jacques Tati's PlayTime in a film class in college, so it was a happy surprise when I saw that Monsieur Hulot had been adapted to comics. He's a happy-go-lucky character whose magical realism causes (and fixes) silly little scenarios.

Hello, Mr. Hulot is shaped like a book for kids, though they might not get some of the more complex jokes, particularly since the text is entirely wordless. Those "reading aloud" might find themselves having to explain quite a bit. Nonetheless, Hello, Mr. Hulot is filled with simple pleasures for readers of any age.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a delightful adaptation of the famous French film character, but there is an inherent flaw which kept me from giving it more stars. The book varies wildly from page to page as to the intended audience. Some of the sight gags are suitable for varying ages of children, others are clearly aimed at adults. The jokes in some of these are way past obscure. His parody of famous images from different cultures includes a few references that are quite obscure. Dropping confetti near a funeral and aiming his derriere toward a visiting dignitary, along with what is apparently the international symbol for breakdancing, may go over the heads of younger readers. So might his shadow's imaginary love life.
Still, David Merveille has created a labor of love in his tribute to the Mr. Hulot films, and the short wordless stories are clever and interesting.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whimsical, colorful illustrations capturing Jacques Tati's film character, Monsieur Hulot. Each is like a little puzzle to solve. Merveille's art is noteworthy. Thanks Joan and Piyali for recommending this~!

[Dee-Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book with no words, except the title of each small section. There was a short story on every second page, described only in pictures. It was a fascinating journey (sometimes we had to start at the end of each small story and work backwards to work out what happened).

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! The wordless escapades of Mr. Hulot are a feast for the eyes. His bumbling ways are never quite what they seem. In fact, the reader must look twice at times to catch the visual puns. Quirky Mr. Hulot, with his pipe and striped socks, goes about his daily life in quite an unexpected manner. Each two-page scenario is fabulously portrayed through artistic panels full of color and illusion. Merveille's take on a classic French character is a delight for all ages.

[Minharin · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai envie de revoir《 Playtime 》de Tati

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Monsieur Hulot is depicted in numerous situations, with his uncanny way to go through life with a joie de vivre, affecting the world around him in fun and unexpected ways.

I had not heard of Jacques Tati before, and I appreciated the author's note at the end of the book that explains how his comic genius inspired this book.

[Buchdoktor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Der Hagestolz in Ringelsocken vor der Silhouette von Paris weckt Erinnerungen an emaillierte Webeschilder und gemalte Werbung an Hausfassaden. Auch wer Jacques Tatis Anti-Helden nicht kennen sollte, ahnt allein anhand der Körperhaltung, dass hier jemand gegen die Tücken des Alltags zu kämpfen hat. Klassische Bildgeschichten aus vier bis sechs Einzelbildern zeigen den Mann mit Hütchen und Tabakspfeife auf seinen Wegen durch Paris. Die stets überraschende Auflösung der Geschichte folgt - seitenfüllend - erst nach dem Umblättern auf der folgenden Seite. Merveilles detailverliebte Schlussszenen zählen für mich zu den Highlights seines Bilderbuchs: Hulot, selbst getroffen, löst eine hemmungslose Schneeballschlacht aus, als er einen Schneeball auf die andere Straßenseite wirft, als kreativer Hobby-Klempner setzt er seine Straße bis zu den Fensterbänken der Häuser unter Wasser und spiegelt wie ein Chamäleon durch seine Fliege, Pfeife oder Socken Eigenheiten einiger Zoo-Tiere. Spaßig finde ich besonders die thematische Abweichung von der Bildgeschichten-Struktur, wenn der Zeichner Hulot als Freiheitsstatue pantomimisch die USA darstellen lässt oder charakteristische Fußgänger-Typen einem Verkehrszeichen zuordnet - der Breakdancer und sein Kreiselschild. Ein Bilderbuch in gedeckten Farben, an dem sich besonders auch erwachsene Bildgeschichten-Fans erfreuen werden

[Christiane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of wordless comics starring the hapless Mr. Hulot. He reminded me of Mr. Bean, and the sort of nonsensical adventures he might have riding a bike, or waiting for the bus, or visiting the zoo. I think adults will enjoy this book as much as, if not more so, than kids. My co-worker who happened to see the book knew the character from the movies! Apparently, Mr. Hulot is a well-known character in France, starring in “Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot” (1953) and “Les Films de Mon Oncle” (1958) among other films. I am excited to borrow the films next!

[Angelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Teresa Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the early 1900's there was a comic actor and filmmaker known as Jacques Tati. He lived in France, and that is where he is best known. His most famous character was Monsieur Hulot--well-known for his pipe, striped socks, and tatty overcoat. David Merveille has taken that character and presented him to a new audience through short comedy sketches in a wordless cartoon format where the situation or joke is presented in frames on one page and the punch line is found on the following page. The cartoons are universally clever and beautifully drawn, requiring the reader to pay close attention to small details to catch all of the humor. Adults might appreciate some more than children, because they would have the context. Still, there is much here to delight a child's eyes. Teachers will appreciate it for the many inference opportunities it offers. Children will delight in its comic quirkiness.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My five-year-old son checked this book out from the library today. OK, I might have put it in his library bag today, but same result. And he did choose it from the bag to read tonight.

J'adore! This is book is so visually clever and weirdly wonderful that I MUST find out more about Jacques Tati and Mr. Hulot. And I MUST own a copy of this book. For me.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is catalogued as a children's graphic novel (J741.59M) but I think the humor is more understandable for adults. There are very few actual words in this slim book, so I thought it would be very quick to leaf through. But I found that I had to spend a few minutes on each scene to understand the story being portrayed. It was a lot of fun! Illustrations were very cute and very French.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parfait, if you know Monsieur Hulot. Even if you don't.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and very sweet.

[Tony Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monsieur Hulot è un personaggio creato e interpretato dal fumetto francese Jacques Tati per una serie di film negli anni '50 e '60, vale a dire Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot, Mon Oncle, Playtime e Trafic. Da questo David Merveille ne ha tratto il suo personaggio in una serie di Silent Book davvero straordinari. Questo è il primo della serie ed è composto da racconti brevissimi (di due pagine!) dove la prima è illustrata come fosse un fumetto, mentre la seconda narra la scena finale ed è a piena pagina. Una capacità narrativa dinamica che lascia ampio margine all'interpretazione; molto adatta ai bimbi ma anche ai non più bimbi, per sviluppare ottime capacità narrative e di scrittura creativa.

[Macy Strem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I picked to read this book because when I was flipping through it in the library I noticed it didn't have words in it. As I sat down and looked through the book. Mr. Hulot the main character in the book. He is a mysterious yet, adventurous man on the streets of Paris France. On each page it shows illustrations of him in a different setting and situation. In every situation Mr. Hulot shows his curious and comical characteristics, as you follow the illustrations on the last box of the page has the suspense running high as you wait to turn the page to see how the ending plays out of Mr. Hulot.

[Amy Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Merveille does a fantastic job at telling Hulot's story through nearly wordless narration and amazing illustrations.  The simplicity highlights the humor, and it's a visual type of humor that most people would understand--making it accessible across languages.  This is a great book for personal reading, for looking at and appreciating the visual cues that Merveille draws.  Overall, this was a fun and fresh picture book.

Review cross-listed here!

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no familiarity with the film character, but the classic 'clueless gentleman wandering through the world' trope carries over well. It feels a little dated to me (I grew up with Inspector Clouseau and Mr. Magoo) but I think my son, who is a dedicated fan of Benjamin Bear, would recognize and enjoy it. Mostly gentle humor though some will go over the heads of the tweens and elementary schoolers likely to pick it up.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm of two minds about this book. I like that it's bringing Tati to a wider audience, but at the same time I feel like it's riding on his coattails to the author's own success. As for the author/illustrator, the look is very spot on but that makes some of the lesser panels really stand out as bad. Also, too many of the visual jokes that play into the bigger panel reveal are stupid potty jokes and lame humor or just weird.

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely French wordless picture book. This has wonderful classroom possibilities. It is many brief stories, each with a surprise ending at the turned page. This character was a beloved film character in France, so children may enjoy snippets of him on YouTube, also.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a collection of 2 page comic strips than one cohesive story.

Essentially wordless except for the titles for each new "episode".

I enjoyed it EXCEPT for the page showing street signs for various people. Showing the sign for a cow with a picture of a large woman seems just mean.

[Kristina Hurd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this! It’s whimsical and funny and very beautifully illustrates! It’s also lead me down the rabbit hole of researching Jacques Tati and that was also a delightful and intriguing experience!

5 stars - loved it! A perfect little mood booster!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly charming! I went looking for the second book, Mr. Hulot at the Beach, as soon as I finished this! It reminds me of my father's very witty humor--despite the fact that it is mostly wordless!

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

C'était rangé dans les livres pour jeunes enfants à la bibliothèque, mais honnêtement c'était une très belle lecture. Le livre respecte l'univers de Tati et sa poésie, avec plein de petites références aux films. Une belle fanfiction, qu'il faudrait que j'offres à mes parents.

[ThePinkCarrot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book with visual gags. Both kids and adults can appreciate the humor.

[Ashley Bostrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely book that allows children to use their imagination to see what the character is really up to : )

[Jennifer Strong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming

[Chrissy Wassinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published: 2006
Very cute and entertaining book for kiddos! Can invite children to use their imagination even more with the illustrations since there are little to no words with the book.

[Ietrio · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book for the fans. This is a collection of one page stories with M. Hulot. The book catches the spirit of the character, without being in any way interesting.