Casse-tout #[nn]

From Yvan Pommaux comes this charming French-language album whose very title — Casse-Tout ("Breaks Everything") — sets the tone perfectly. The vivid magenta cover shows a cheerful young boy leaning casually against a battered safe, surrounded by a wonderfully chaotic swirl of broken furniture, a tumbling vase, scattered objects, and a startled crow, all floating skyward as if disaster has just struck and he hasn't quite noticed yet. Published by L'école des loisirs in 2009, it's the kind of warm, witty all-ages comics storytelling that makes you smile before you've even opened the cover.