For Words Without Borders, Rivka Galchen selected five works of children’s literature in translation for the holidays. On My Valley and Hiznobyuti, she writes:

“In picture books, I am wild for My Valley and Hīznobyūtī, both by the French cartoonist and illustrator Claude Ponti, put out by Elsewhere Editions, an imprint of Archipelago Books. Hīznobyūtī is a journey narrative of a creature nicknamed Hīznobyūtī who wanders far from home (with his ally Martin Clock) until he eventually returns to discover he might, despite what it seemed, be wanted back at the home in which he felt so unloved. In My Valley, narrator Poochie Blue never strays from home—his valley—and each oversized spread details another corner or practice of his home valley—a place to him familiar, to us fantastical. Ponti’s work is playful, gentle, and profound. These books are eccentrically sized, which makes them a wonder to hold. The translator, Alyson Waters, does a marvelous job with Ponti’s wordplay and poetics.