Indonesia
Martine Series by Marcel Malier
If you are fond of books, the name Harry Potter, Sisters Grimm, Fancy Nancy, KKPK (Kecil-Kecil Punya Karya), Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the likes should be familiar. These series were born and got famous in our time, Superkids. But that didn’t mean the authors and illustrations who lived in the past don’t have worth reading works.
The first book of Martine series was released in 1954 (oh, it was 60 years ago) with the original title “Martine à la ferme” (Martine in the Farm). Up until today, Martine is still on sale and easy to get in racks of major bookstores. The power of this series didn’t only come from the simple story line, about the everyday life of a little girl named Martine. The dazzling illustration that was made so detailed by a Belgium artist, Marcel Malier also contributed to the point.
Up to this day, the beauty of Marcel’s pictures decorating the Martine’s pages are still number one. Wanting perfect results, Marcel could only release 60 series of Martine, which have been translated into more than a few languages all over the world. When the author Gilbert Delahaye died in 1997, the production of Tini still went on. Jean-Louis Marlier, Marcel’s son carried on Gilbert’s part in writing the story. However, when Marcel passed away in 80 years old last 2011, the series was over. No one can keep up Marcel’s position in the book. The last book “Martine et le prince mystérieux” was released in 2010, one year before Marcel died.
Martine was described as a beautiful young brunette girl. She has a younger brother named Jean and a dog Patapouf. In 1969, Marcel released another books , “Jean-Lou and Sophie”, with illustration that very much resembled to Martine. The series that has been sold for over 100 million copies and acknowledged as one of the most read books in the world. In fact, there was a video game in Europe and America with Martine character with the name changed into “Emma.”
HAFIDA INDRAWATI
PHOTOS: IAMACHILD.FILES.WORDPRESS.COM
