Lupu Lupettu jrid isir supereroj

Lupu Lupettu jrid isir supereroj Author: Orianne Lallemand Illustrated: Eleonore Thuillier Translated: Maltese by Clare Azzopardi

Lupu Lupettu looks in the mirror one morning, and thinks: “What if I were to be a superhero? Wouldn’t Lupetta swoon and fall in love with me straight away?” And that’s that. He gets himself a tight costume, cape and all, and sets out to save the world. But, err, things don’t go exactly as planned, especially when he tries to save his beloved Lupetta and she ends up all drenched.

Luckily, Lupu Lupettu’s superhero adventure ends just fine, with Lupetta reassuring him: “I love you just the way you are with all your strengths and weaknesses”. All together now: “Awww!” This book is perfect for children at this time of year – because a) parents and guardians stressing over Carnival, will have a good laugh when they read it to their offspring b) it will make said parents feel a bit warm and fuzzy in the tummy close to Valentine’s day and c) because it will make good revision practice for those Maltese exams looming on the border, without the children noticing that they’re actually studying.

There’s more! If you really want to be a superhero in the eyes of your kids, you can also get the Lupu Lupettu soft toy, which is available in a box set, AND his bright super hero costume – for the children to dress him up. What better way to encourage reading in Maltese than to have a soft toy of the book character next to you, to play with and animate the story while reading?

Lupu Lupettu has become possibly children’s favourite Maltese book character, as each new Lupu title hits the bestseller charts. His trials and tribulations are the same as most children: he hates walking, he only loves to eat pasta, he thinks museums are boring, he wants to win all the time, which is what makes him a loveable character. Parents equally love him for the side-splitting wit of the plots and the gentle moral nudge at the end.

For this reason, Merlin Publishers regularly brings in new titles adding to the collection of the series in Maltese.

The Lupu Lupettu series has no fixed age: children from six years up will be able to read the book by themselves and parents can read it to younger children.

Lupu is the creation of young French author Orianne Lallemand – and the character was tried and tested on her five children before it went on to become a publishing phenomenon. Together with illustrator Eléonore Thuillier, stories of Le Loup with his trademark amusing eyes and bush tail sprang to life.

Merlin Publishers engaged award-winning Maltese author Clare Azzopardi as translator, and the result is one of the first superhero children’s books in Maltese.