Elfie's Spellbook Volumes 1 and 2: Elfie's Spellbook and The Song of the Cicadas

Beautifully illustrated, and full of warmth, wit and joyful witchy magic - this utterly charming new graphic novel series is sure to bring you under its spell, and is perfect for fans of Kiki's Delivery Service, Witches of Brooklyn, and cosy, funny fantasy like The Hatmakers.

Over 800,000 copies sold in France!

Ever since their beloved maman died, free-spirit Elfie and her teen sister, Magda, have been stuck living with their extremely grumpy aunt in boring suburbia.

That is until their older sister, Louette, arrives to rescue them in her London bus-come-travelling-bookshop, and whisks them away to freedom, and adventures travelling around France!

Elfie is delighted to be reunited with all her sisters - especially when Louette reveals that their mother left them all special gifts. Elfie's is a notebook, which she fills with stories - just like her mum used to do.

Only it turns out, the notebook isn't a notebook. It's a grimoire - a witch's spellbook! And when Elfie writes her stories in it, magic come to life . . .

Now Elfie must work out how to use her magic for good - and help solve a mystery which has torn a small village in Northern France apart.

In Elfie's second adventure, The Song of the Cicadas, Elfie, Louette and Magda arrive in their book-bus in Gonerbes, a sun-baked village in Provence. They've come to visit Alistair Kinloch, a writer who was friend's with their maman. But Elfie quickly finds a new mystery to solve: someone has been threatening Alistair, and his beloved vintage typewriter, a gift from Maman, has been stolen . . . Worst still, it seems that Alistair's inspiration was stolen with it - and now Alistair can no longer write!

But who would want to harm Alistair, and why? It's up to Elfie - and some new magical friends - to find out . . .

Full of joy, mischief, family and friendships - as well as magic, of course - Elfie's adventures are sure to cast a spell on all her readers!

Christophe Arleston (Author)
Christophe Arleston began his career as a journalist, then became a playwright for France Inter radio, before turning to graphic novel writing in the early 1990s. He then created series in a variety of styles, from humorous crime stories to medieval fantasy adventures. In 1994, he achieved widespread success with Lanfeust de Troy , a series illustrated by Didier Tarquin, which blends adventure, fantasy, and humor. Several best-selling series followed, and in 2019, he co-founded the publishing house Drakoo. There, he co-wrote the script for Le Grimoire d'Elfie (illustrated by Mini Ludvin) with Audrey Alwett, which was an immediate success. Christophe Arleston has sold over 15 million books to date.

Audrey Alwett (Author)
Audrey Alwett is now the author of several graphic novels (including the bestselling series Princesse Sara and Elfie's Spellbook), short stories and novels. Since 2018 Audrey has also been performing spoken pieces and spreading her stories that way. Audrey feels that there are limitless ways to weave a good story, the difficulties lies in finding the right threads and the right patterns for a story to flourish without dropping a stitch. Although she now lives in Aix-en-Provence, a city of fountains and history, Audrey considers that she has always lived in Literature.

Mini Ludvin (Illustrator)
Mini Ludvin focused her studies on drawing from a very young age. An eclectic reader of European and Japanese comics, she trained in animation at the E.M.C.A. in Angoulême. She initially specialized in character design and script direction, then turned to the world of books in 2015. She illustrated several novel series for Rageot and Flammarion, and drew her first graphic novel, Yézidie, for Dupuis. From her ten years of experience in animation, she gained a narrative skill and fluidity that she applies to her graphic novels. In 2018, Christophe Arleston and Audrey Alwett contacted her to illustrate the adventures of a little witch and her sisters in a mobile bookstore – Elfie’s Spellbook. Mini Ludvin now lives in Angoulême, a city of art and imagination.

Anam Zafar (Translator)
Anam Zafar is an award-winning literary and commercial translator working from Arabic and French into English. She specialises in literature, environment, international development and politics.