A huge line of children waits patiently with their parents to meet their favorite writer at the
Book Fair
.
The magic happens in the face-to-face meeting: there is a book signing, dedications and little drawings between selfies and videos.
Dialogue involved, someone always appears who makes some mistake or other,
questions a character
or asks little things about the comic.
It is the age of innocence, that of children between 4 and 10 years old –and a little more too–, that of the little big fans of Chanti's books
, one of the most acclaimed writers at the Penguin Randon House stand.
Chanti is actually Santiago González Riga.
When he was a boy, his brothers called him Chanti and it remained as a pseudonym.
He was born in 1970 in Mendoza and is one of the most prolific writers of
children's comics
in Argentina, with
more than 40 published books.
He came to the Fair to present
Mayor and Menor 20
, his brand new children's comic book, to meet with his audience to sign copies and to give an interactive talk with drawings included.
Chanti: "Since I was little I liked to draw and tell stories."
Photo Martin Bonetto
Mayor y menor
was born 20 years ago from the inspiration of the author for his nephews Nacho and Tobías, and from that “love-hate” relationship, jealousy and complicity that little brothers have when they are little.
He appeared for years in Rumbos magazine
.
The author of
Facu and Café con Leche
and
Picho Pichón
took these characters from real life to turn them into children's comics and they grew as he published more books until he reached number 20 of the
Major and minor
series , the reason for his celebration at the Fair.
They are stories mixed between reality and fiction for boys, where adults are not left out either.
–What does the older and younger brother mean to you?
Those roles are very well defined.
The older brother has many responsibilities, they make him grow up very fast because he has to take care of his younger siblings.
When they were kids, if they messed up the older one, they always scolded him.
He has the responsibility to lead the way.
On the other hand, the youngest is managed more, they continue to treat him like a little boy for a longer time.
The siblings in the middle go unnoticed, as is my case, the fifth of eight siblings.
I like that.
–This year the
Major and Minor Ledger 20
came out .
What can kids see in this book, and how is it different from the previous ones in the series?
-In the 20th we do a kind of celebration.
It has a special comic for having reached 20 issues.
It also brings a special gift that are stickers of the characters and with drawings that are related to the World Cup.
On one page there is a drawing of the little brothers that says "10 + 10": it symbolizes the number 20 of the edition.
The characters in the book are: Nacho, who is 10 years old and the oldest, Tobi (7), and Lola, 2 years old.
There are also the father and mother, Nitus the cat –a neighbor's cat that always crosses paths–, and Peluche, the family dog, among other characters.
In this comic the characters are growing from the first issue.
The whole story begins when Nacho is going to have a little brother (Tobi), and they are growing up.
As time goes by, that sibling jealousy wears off and then they become playmates and teach him things.
At the end, there is a special comic where almost all the characters from other comics come together to celebrate the 20th anniversary.
It is a crossover of other comics:
Facu comes with Café con leche, the Pico Pichón, Cachito and Chorlito, Payunia City, Yoko Yaka
.
Everything is mixed.
"Mayor y menor" was born 20 years ago from the author's inspiration for his nephews and from that "love-hate" relationship, jealousy and complicity that little brothers have when they are little.
Photo Martin Bonetto
–There are also many cartoons about the dog and the cat.
-Yeah.
The dog is more naive, kinder, simpler in his thinking and the cat is more intricate.
They get along well but there is always that shock that they do not understand each other: the cat becomes very detached from its owners and the dog does not, it is his pack and it protects them, it pays a lot of attention to the owner.
On the other hand, Nitus the cat doesn't even remember the owner's name, he doesn't have any problem.
–How did your job or vocation of drawing and telling comics for boys come about?
–Since I was little I liked to draw and tell stories, both equally.
I always did comics.
Before knowing how to read and write, I was already drawing pictures.
My brother wrote the balloons for me.
At that time many comic magazines were read.
I was fascinated by Spirou squirrel, which is of Franco-Belgian origin, the Spanish translated it and it came here.
It had comics that are not known here but the magazine continues to appear there in France.
They are very iconic characters: they are like those of Asterix.
That type of comic that is very well drawn, has very good humorous scripts and I did that: more long comics of that type, I did not do what graphic humorists do with a short strip or a joke with only one panel.
I like to tell long stories.
I do it for kids because I still remember when I was a kid what I liked to read in a comic and on the other hand because I love children, it's such a fresh, open audience.
New edition of "Mayor y menor", by Chanti, to celebrate 20 years (Sudamericana Infantil Juvenil, $3,199 print; $963 ebook).
–What things do the boys tell you when you meet them to sign your books?
They are very funny.
One of them started asking me a lot of questions: how did I come up with Major and Minor or Pico Pichón.
They ask me many things.
They are very spontaneous readers, coming up with everything in a presentation.
They are very faithful: when they have something from the collection they want to complete it.
They are also very detailed, they re-read the book over and over again and mark any errors.
Here at the Fair, a boy told me that in this part this character mispronounced this word and before he pronounced it correctly.
So, I said to him: Are you sure that he had pronounced correctly?
The boy passed by with the book and showed me where he got it.
I always tell the boys that I read my comics once when I did them, I have it in my head but I don't remember it perfectly either, but they keep reading it over and over again (laughs).
They are like that, very detailed.
They mark everything but they are very cute as an audience.
–It's amazing that the boys accept it and then mark everything for you. They demand you as if they were adults.
-Clear.
They show you those little errors, that you have made a mistake in something but not in terms of the content of the comic.
–Your audience is very varied: telling stories to 4 or 5-year-olds is not the same as it is to 10 or 12-year-olds. How do you achieve that balance?
–I have different comics that are intended for different audiences of different ages.
Picho Pichón and Facu Café con leche are for younger children.
On the other hand, Major and Minor could be for all audiences.
I have other comics that are more adult like Payunia City, which I did for adults.
It always happens to me that boys can read anyone, they don't have forbidden topics but they get hooked and read Payunia City and maybe an older boy reads Facu and café con leche and he liked it.
The difference is in the theme and in how I approach the issues.
In Major and Minor there are comics like the ones I told you about before, which are intended for the adult who is going to laugh when they make him come forward and he doesn't want to do it in public but perhaps the boy doesn't even realize it.
Anyway, I like to write for boys because it opens my mind.
I can make a comic of anything, no matter how absurd it may be.
Cartoons of "Major and minor", by Chanti
–You have a great responsibility as a writer and cartoonist to show the way for the children so that they start reading and also writing. How do you feel about this?
–I take it very responsibly, the content is always very careful and I try to transmit something positive in the comics, to make the boy think.
In Major and minor there are many reflections, some of them are for slightly older people.
–Are you mixing stories from everyday life with fiction?
–In
Major and minor
, yes.
It's a little bit of things that I've seen and others that are all made up and talk about topics.
For example: Tobi and Nacho talk about the issue of money.
Tobi doesn't understand why his father doesn't earn more money, why he didn't choose a career so he could be rich.
He then begins to tell her that not all professions earn the same.
What is a profession that earns a lot of money?
Tobi says: a mason, because he makes your house.
No!
He is one of those who earn less!, the brother answers.
I had that thought when I was little, I believed that a bricklayer earned a lot because he built your house.
I did not know that architects existed.
So, he starts talking about the value of money but Tobi doesn't understand.
What message would you give the boys?
–That they enjoy playing, imagining and being free.
I'm going to make a comic based on that, since the kids are told to enjoy their childhood but they tell you that they can't do that: we have to go to school, they send us to eat, to sleep.
As an adult, one understands the freedom that existed: having all the hours and minutes to have fun, looking for what to do... There was a lot of carelessness, you lived much more relaxed.
For this reason, I insist that they have to enjoy playing, imagining and being free.
pc
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