Friday, March 27, 2015

Why LA? Pourquoi Paris? Review and Giveaway

C'est vrai!



exceptionnel, phénoménal, soufflant, surprenant!

Written by Diane Ratican, who loves both Los Angeles and Paris, Why LA? Pourquoi Paris?, is a dazzling picture book, published in 2014, that features full-color illustrations by artists Eric Giriat (Paris) and Nick Lu (Los Angeles).  I think the best way to review this book is to show you some of artwork in it.  It's truly enchanting!

Se il vous plaît,
 jetez un oei! 


 The pictures express beaucoup joie de vivre.
Beach scene, LA

This book has a very clever design!  With words and brilliant, colorful illustrations,
the two cities are compared and contrasted, in a fun and vibrant manner.


Pages on the left depict something in LA (in this case, soccer);
pages on the right depict the counterpart in Paris (football).



Street art or graffiti in LA, and murals in Paris.



Cycling: Tour of California, 2006, 
and Tour de France, 1903. 


 Booksellers!  
Barnes & Noble, and Les Bouquinistes.

Wonderful, eclectic quotations are sprinkled throughout the book, such as:

"Life is like riding a bicycle.  To keep your balance you must keep moving."
~Albert Einstein
 and
"Fashions fade, style is eternal."
~Yves Saint Laurent

At the end of this book is a list of the author's favorite addresses in Los Angeles and in Paris, for shops, restaurants, and hotels. (I'm familiar with several of the places listed in LA, but I've not yet visited Paris.)  Why LA?  Pourquoi Paris? is an exuberant celebration of two great cities that are very different, yet similar.  I absolutely loved it, and I learned a few things about both LA and Paris.

Thanks to the generosity of the book's author, illustrators, and agents, I'm thrilled to offer a giveaway for a copy of this gorgeous art book to a reader (U.S.A. /Canada)!

  • To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment.
  • For another chance at winning, become a follower of this blog, or indicate that you're already a follower.
  • For an additional chance, post about this contest on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.
  • For one more chance, mention the last art or picture book you enjoyed looking at.

Enter by 5 PM PST on Monday, April 13.  One winner will be selected randomly and announced on Tuesday, April 14.  Please be sure to leave your email address, or a link that leads to it.  Bonne chance!

27 comments:

  1. This looks like a delightful book. Thanks for the chance to win!
    meah56 at gmail dot com

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  2. Sounds fun.

    Old follower.

    Thanks for the giveaway.

    Elizabeth

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  3. This looks fun! Thanks for the giveaway.

    yvone473[at]optonline[dot]net

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  4. This is great! C'est formidable! Thanks for showing those side-by-side pages.

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  5. Looks like so much fun.email follower lomazowr@gmail.com.really enjoyed Relish a wonderful graphic book.

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  6. This sounds great! :) I love that Yves Saint Laurent quote.

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  7. A delightful and captivating book. Thanks. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  8. I am an e-mail subscriber. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  9. The last art book which I enjoyed greatly was Marc Chagall: The Jerusalem Windows. My late father was an artist and I inherited this wonderful book. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  10. No need to enter me, but the artwork is fantastic!

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  11. What a great idea, and such a nice-looking book too. It's wonderful to see this kind of cooperative effort. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.
    +1 I follow by email: carlscott(at)prodigy(dot)net(dot)mx
    +1 I pinned an image: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/336573772128156058/
    +1 I just happen to have The Concise Encyclopedia of Surrealism on my desk at the moment. Lots of wonderful artists and examples of their work. Thanks again.

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  12. You always expose us to the illustrations are wonderful.such wonderful, new books --

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    Replies
    1. Diane, I really enjoyed this book! Thank you for your comment.

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  13. Wonderful review Suko. This looks like a beautiful and entertaining book. I love the quote by Einstein. I would love a chance to win this book. I follow your blog - will tweet your post --- the last picture book I enjoyed was Bridges of Paris by Michael Saint James. I will have a review and giveaway contest for it in April.

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  14. What a great review and this sounds like fun. My daughter and I are reading Changes which is a picture poetry book from Sourcebooks. I've shared the giveaway on FB and Twitter and I do follow you

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  15. J'taime Paris et Los Angeles! Please enter me in this giveaway! The last picture book I read was by Roz Chast, a graphic novel " Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?" . I am a follower of your blog and will share this link onto Facebook! erikosmile@gmail.com

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  16. Vicki, thank you very much! The book you mention is a cute one. :)

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  17. Hi Suko,

    Although I am not eligible to enter the giveaway (sob, sob!), I just wanted to stop by and say what a lovely book this is, perfect for that 'coffee table' collection and to wow! the visitors :)

    The Einstein quote is delightful and oh! so true.

    Thanks for sharing and Good Luck to all who enter the competition.

    Yvonne

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  18. I enjoyed this book also, I display it like a coffee table book. I enjoy just setting and looking at all the delightful illustrations. Nice review...

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  19. That looks like a cute premise for a book. I enjoyed the pictures in this post!

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  20. Book looks wonderful.reallynenjoyed the graphic book Relish.im an email follower lomazowr@gmail.comwill tweet @rhondareads

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