This French album was a 2008 Essentials Award winner at Angouleme and won a 2008 Tam Tam Literary Award. It is a beautifully heartfelt and beautifully illustrated story. Out of print.

From the publisher:

Jean, an adorable 5 year old boy, relates his daily life and little adventures with his sour-tempered teacher Madame Moinot, his busy dad, his nanny Yvette (the Queen of iced chocolate), his little brother Paul (with whom he keeps fighting) and his neighbor Michele (whose parents own a kennel) ...all the small and funny things that seem to make him an ordinary boy. But Jean feels a great emptiness inside. With sensitivity and emotion, but never lapsing into melodrama, Bravo and Regnaud tell their story and remind us that children are not the only ones who would rather invent than deal with reality.