U

The son of a doctor and an illustrator, Grégoire Solotoreff was born in Egypt in 1953. He studied medicine in Paris and worked as a physician, but then decided to turn to writing and illustrating children's books. His first albums were released in 1985, when his son felt that his father's stories badly needed pictures. What sets him apart is his ability to portray strong characters in a modern style. He willingly addresses serious universal issues such as tolerance, friendship and loneliness, but does so in a non-preachy, humorous way. Young readers appreciate these qualities. He has written 128 books in 15 years, and most of them have been translated all over the world. The best known include Le Dictionnaire du Pere Noël, Mathieu, Moi, Fifi, Un jour un loup, Le Diable des Rochers, Toi grand et moi petit, Un chat est un chat. He has been published by L'Ecole des Loisirs since 1985 and has been the house's editorial director of the Loulou & Cie series. Twice nominated for the Andersen Award in 2002 and 2006, Solotareff won the Montreuil Award in 1992 and the Belgian Versele Award in 1992. The short animated feature Loulou (based on his book of the same name) was part of the feature Loulou et autres loups and has been highly successful since its theatrical release in 2003.

Serge Elissalde

Born in Besançon in 1962, Serge Elissalde studied painting and sculpture at Bordeaux University and worked for two years as a drawing teacher in Toulouse and Lille. A self-taught animator, he directed his first short in 1987. He then co-founded and promoted L'Atelier d'anim, which soon became the centre of Parisian animation production. His short films The Streetsweeper (Le Balayeur), Emile Frout and Raoul et Jocelyne garnered many awards, both in France and abroad. In the years 2002-2003, he made Verte based on Marie Desplechin's novel, and Merlin based on Sfar and Munuera's comic book, both for France Télévisions. In 2003, he made his feature debut with the short Loulou, based on Grégoire Solotareffs's book, which was part of his animated full-length feature Loulou et autres loups.
Filmography: The Streetsweeper (Le Balayeur, 1986), Zombi (1992), Emilie Frout (1994), Le lapin sidéré (1995), Raoul et Jocelyne 2000), Docteur Dog (2002), Verte (2002), Loulou (2002), Merlin (2003), Loulou et autres loups (2006).