Phileas’s Fortune

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we revisit a timeless favourite by the journalist and children’s author Agnès de Lestrade, beautifully illustrated by Argentine artist Valeria Docampo. An international bestseller, this enchanting tale has been translated into thirty languages and has won both the Prix Papillotes 2010 and the Prix Littéraire de la Citoyenneté 2010. Little Phileas is in love with the lovely Cybelle. He longs to tell her “I love you,” but he doesn’t have enough coins in his piggy bank. The wealthy and arrogant Oscar, on the other hand, has no trouble declaring to the little girl that one day he will marry her. You see, in their world, words are a luxury, and spoken only by those who can afford to buy them. Every word has a price, and the most important ones come at a steep cost. This means that the rich can say whatever they wish, while the poor must make do with the leftover words, which often don’t really convey their feelings. But the words of love, as this story so beautifully reminds us, are the simplest, like “cherry… ruby… chimes!”, which reach directly to the heart. Will Phileas find a way to win Cybelle’s heart? Phileas’s Fortune is a lovely story, filled with poetic beauty and a message that is as relevant as ever: words are of immense value, and they have the extraordinary power to set us free.

Reading age: from 4 years old

La grande fabbrica delle parole
Agnès de Lestrade, illustrations by Valeria Docampo
Magination Press, 2010