10 petits insectes

10 petits insectes #1

by Davide Calì, Vincent Pianina

Bien qu’invités pour des raisons différentes (congrès médical, festival des imitateurs, audition de musique country ou autre week-end pour célibataires…), dix petits insectes se trouvent réunis dans un manoir sur l’île de La Tortue. Ils disparaissent étrangement les uns après les autres. Mais qui est donc le mystérieux assassin ?

- Une adaptation très libre et pleine d’humour du roman policier le plus célèbre d’Agatha Christie
- Le scénario est un entre-deux entre Lewis Trondheim pour les rebondissements humoristiques et Anouk Ricard pour le côté faussement naïf
- Comme d’habitude, Davide Cali nous régale par la construction sans faille de son récit

Genres: Graphic Novels, Mystery, Middle Grade, Humor, Fiction, Comics Bd, Bande Dessinée

80 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2009

About the author

Davide Calì is a Swiss-born Italian writer of picture books and graphic novels, primarily for children and young adults. He lives in Italy. His work has been published in twenty-five countries and translated into many languages.

Reviews

[Susan]

Assumed I was interlibraryloaning a picture book. It is tagged as a YA graphic novel. I am not wild about how it looks like a children's picture book for the very young in every way on the cover and size etc. but the content is inappropriate - beheadings, corpse/dead talk and so on. As I read on, I realized it was a take on Agatha Christie's classic Ten Little Indians. While a clever idea that is well executed (slight pun intended), there are a lot of parents who will not be aware that this is not what their five year old should be looking at or their eight year old should be reading because of that confusion. I am not a fan of the deliberately confusing book especially when children are involved. Publisher, a little responsibility, please.

[Seth Schleicher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Title: 10 Little insects
Author/ Illustrator: David Cali/ Vincent Pianina
Reading Level: S
Book Level: 5.3
Book Summary: Ten insects are brought to a mysterious house when odd things start to happen. Detective work is needed to solve the puzzle, which will surprise the students. This text was selected because there is a variety of insects written about in this story as an information introduction to the insect unit.

Bookshelf Mentor Writing Traits

Conventions/Voice:
This graphic novel is filled with action and dialogue. As a class we could have each student pick a character and they can create a fun voice for each insect. This book will help teaching conventions as it has many mechanical pieces to the dialogue of the story. This story is full of reactions and emotion to truly get the students engaged and will help build on the mechanical aspects of writing.

[diarhafsari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diilhami dari novel misteri terkenal Agatha Christie, "And Then There Were None" (atau yang judul awalnya "10 Little Indians"), komik ini menceritakan kisah serupa namun tak sama yang semua karakternya merupakan beragam jenis serangga.

(Hampir) seperti cerita aslinya, kisah "10 Little Insects" mengumpulkan sembilan serangga dengan berbagai profesi plus dua serangga pelayan di dalam sebuah wastu ("mansion") di sebuah pulau kecil tak berpenghuni. Secara misterius, satu per satu serangga tewas dengan mengenaskan. Diburu waktu sebelum turut tewas juga, beberapa serangga mencoba mencari tahu misteri di balik semua kejadian yang menimpa mereka.

Meski lebih dari setengah bagian awal komik berilustrasi cerah ceria ini terasa cukup menegangkan, sang komikus Italia, Davide Cali, tetap menyisipkan humor yang menyenangkan. Ditambah "plot twist" yang kalau kata anak zaman sekarang bisa dibilang 'membagongkan', komik ini pun cukup lengkap sebagai bacaan yang sangat menghibur.

[asiya | アセヤ (free palestine) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so cute and fun, it is definitely what got me into reading the original tale by Agatha Christie, and I am so thrilled by how the author doesn't even give away the real plot. Super creative, and the art is perfect.

[Chelsea Lucas]

I remember reading this book years ago when I was a kid and laughing so much. So it was nive to go back and revisit the story, and while it wasn't as good as I remember it, it was still a fun and funny read.

[LuckyVV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une très jolie adaptation des Dix Petits Nègres de la reine du crime, qui plaira aux amoureux du genre et du roman !

[Sofie Lai]

this book is a funny comic about ten insects that get trapped in a mansion that has a bunch of traps on turtle island, can you guess why its called turtle island?

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but very odd indeed. A version of Agatha Christie's "And Then They Were None" with a cast of eccentric insects.

[kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

traumatized me as a kid. i was so sad

[Sarah Wyatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is essentially "And Then There Were None" told with insects. It was humorous at moments, but it was very similar to the original, so I was a little bored with it.

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ten Little Insects is a retelling of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians using bugs as main characters. I enjoyed this graphic novel and found it quite humorous but don't know that it will appeal to the middle grade audience to which it's targeted. This might be better enjoyed by older teens or young adults.

[Linda Weeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first heard of '10 Little Insects' at a recent CBCA conference in Adelaide, I thought it would be fun to read. As I moved through the pages on a glum Saturday afternoon, I didn't expect to be sitting and giggling - much to the mirth of my family.

From the first pages of this new graphic novel, to the very end (which I almost missed...) there was a lot to keep you laughing and musing about along the way. In this whodunnit mystery, we follow the trails of 10 insects invited to Tortoise Island for a variety of curious reasons. Each 'guest' has come along with a different expectation of a weekend at an exclusive, but mysterious mansion on a secluded island.

Unfortunately, one by one, they meet an untimely death - reminiscent of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None' (or 'Ten Little Indians' as it was released in the US). Of course they attempt to solve the mystery of individual deaths along the way, but as in any good Agatha Christie novel, the crimes aren't solved completely till the very end; in an extremely humorous way.

'10 Little Insects' was launched in Australia by Nicki Greenberg, a very clever Australian writer and illustrator, with an affinity for graphic novels. You can read her comments from the launch, and thus understand why she was the ideal candidate to launch the book in Australia. Read her comments carefully, especially when she implores:

"...try, if you possibly can, to slow down just a tiny bit. Linger a little in the wonderful lush landscapes of the island and the fabulous interiors of the mansion. Enjoy the clever use of space in the page layouts, the colours and textures, and the complex blocking required to portray so many characters’ interlocking conversations." (Nicki Greenberg, http://wilkinsfarago.wordpress.com/20...)

And since Nicki spoke so eloquently and effusively about this book, there is little more I can say - except to recommend your read this, whenever you get the chance... then read it again to pick up what you missed (either in the clever illustrations of Vincent Pianina, Davide Cali's punctuating text) the first time.

[Mishaela Littlefield · Rating 3 out of 5]

When 10 little insects receive invitations in the mail to attend an event on the infamous Tortoise Island, they're absolutely ecstatic. From the promise of a luxurious singles weekend to the hopes of winning a swimming competition title, these insects all end up on the same fishing boat headed to the Island, but all whilst believing they're headed there for different events. When the boat swiftly drops them off on the Island's edge, the story suddenly turns dark and mysterious. The insects slowly start dying in unpredictable ways and no one on the Island can seem to figure out who the culprit is. The story takes the reader through countless different scenarios of who the killer could possibly be, all while constantly keeping them on their toes with plot twists hidden on every page.

This graphic novel is laid out like a comic book, with multiple illustrations located inside various boxes scattered on the page. There are little text bubbles that pop up alongside the characters so the reader is provided with dialogue and context throughout the whole story. The illustrations use cartoons to convey the characters and scenery while filling them in with scribbles and smooth, bright colors. The book uses suspense to take the reader through the mystery of who could be doing such heinous things to the poor insects. This book is definitely geared more towards older kids, since the subject matter is based on murders and ultimately trying to figure out who the killer is.

[Kevin Dolorico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boy, interesting read. We're actually going through our 3rd read of this in less than 24 hours. With an almost-6 year old.

+
Compelling storyline.
Amusing artwork.
Great presentation.

-
It's my fault for not giving this a full read at the library before bringing it home. The plot is really dark.

**spoiler alert**

Yeah, every insect dies. My son has chosen to skip over a few panes where the doctor does some work on a millipede, thinking it's a worm. But yeah. :)

He says he can handle it, and I think it's exposing him to some fascinating themes, some I probably would rather not cover.

Next time, I'll look for a more lighthearted, uplifting mystery book. More Scooby Doo-ish, and less Agatha Christie. :)

[Blayne Hendricks · Rating 4 out of 5]

10 little insects is a laugh out loud graphic style novel for children. The story is about ten different bugs that have crazy mysteries pop up in their lives. They play detective to find out what happened. The story takes twists and turns as you get to know all of the little bugs. The story is great for middle aged children and up. As an adult I found myself wrapped up in the story excited to get to the next page.
The book has the classic comic book layout of panels and gutters. The text is very small, with a lot happening on each page so it may be hard for a read aloud. But as a solo reader it is a great book. The sizing of the panels do a great job of showing the level of importance for each scene, and help the reader to follow along with the author's plan.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an odd little graphic novel... Our library has it in the J-Fiction section, which is probably appropriate for older kids. The premise, as you might guess, is a riff on Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, only with insects. It's goofy, quirky fun but I don't know many kids who would understand all of the book's vocabulary, much less the jokes.

[Tracie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bizarre, interesting retelling of the Agatha Christie mystery Ten Little Indians. Ten insects are lured to a secluded island by different means. Once there they are murdered one-by-one and the survivors frantically try to keep it together, escape the island and discover who is "dropping them like flies" so to speak.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insects die rather brutal deaths in this homage to Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians". Parts are quite humorous, but overall it is older kids and adults who will appreciate the humor. The cartoony art tones down the bloodiness a bit, but sensitive children will still want to steer clear.

[Christiane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A children’s comic book based on Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None”? Yes! Ten insects, all with something to hide, accept an invitation to a mysterious island. One of them does not survive dinner… Clever fun for older readers.

[Sara Weather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, cheesy insect jokes. This is no A Bugs Life now that had some good bug jokes ;). I did not enjoy this. Also, I feel that how things went down was eh. I want to give it something for going somewhere a little different with the mystery but eh.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ingenious and very funny reimagining of the classic Agatha Christie mystery "Ten Little Indians" aka "And Then There Were None", as a graphic novel for children. This story makes direct mention of the Christie book, but the characters still manage to get themselves killed one by one.

[Viedefun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une BD que j'adore ! Je viens de la relire avec mes deux enfants. C'est excellent même si nous sommes face à des crimes "sanglants".....Les adultes apprécieront également le second degré dans le récit....

[Joey Alison Sayers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very bizarre. Loved the art.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you've wanted to read a children's graphic novel featuring a gruesome classic murder plot retold with insects, it is your lucky day. Otherwise, skip this one, it is weird and unpleasant.

[Sadie]

A spoof off of Agatha Chritie's book And then there were none/Ten little Indians.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

a cute little retelling of Agatha Christie' s "ten little indians"
this book was in the ya graphic novel section on the library, good thing too. It looks like itd be a children's book by its size,and shape, but don't let the little ones get a hold of it.