Joseph's Belly selected for the Tatoulu Literary Prize 2026

The album Le ventre de JosephWritten by Marie Desplechin, illustrated by Michaël Cailloux and published in Thierry Magnier editions, is part of the Official selection for the Tatoulu Prize 2026, a literary prize awarded annually by young readers across France.

This selection celebrates a unique work, at the crossroads of epistolary narrative, poetry, and botanical tale. It follows a mother who, faced with her son Joseph's mysterious pains, writes to an 18th-century botanist monk in an attempt to understand what eludes medicine. The sensitive prose of Marie Desplechin encounters the organic and symbolic visual universe of Michaël Caillouxgiving birth to an album that is at once intimate, strange and profoundly human.

What is the Tatoulu Prize?

Le Tatoulu Prize is a children's literature prize awarded annually by groups of children and teenagersaccompanied by mediators (teachers, librarians, documentalists, etc.).

Unlike traditional literary prizes, here it is the young readers themselves who:
– read the selected books,
– debate and compare their points of view,
– vote to elect their favorite book.

De November to AprilReadings and discussions are organized within groups.
En May, each group takes a vote, which is then transmitted to the Tatoulu association.
The results are announced at the official award ceremony in June in Paris.

The Tatoulu project promotes a strong philosophy:
– to make reading a collective act,
– to encourage argumentation and cooperation,
– to believe in everyone's ability to think for themselves,
– to make literature a lever for emancipation and self-confidence.

Recognition for Le ventre de Joseph

Being selected for the Tatoulu Prize means entering into a lively and demanding reading process, where a book circulates from hand to hand, fuels debates, sparks interpretations, and shapes perspectives.

The presence of Le ventre de Joseph Being included in this selection is an important recognition for the creative work carried out around this album, and a great opportunity to introduce it to a wide, curious and engaged audience.

The results will be announced in June 2026, after several months of reading and discussion.

👉 Discover the official selection for the 2026 Tatoulu Prize