ULYSSE PETIT EXPAT, THE FIRST BOOK TO EXPLAIN EXPATRIATION TO KIDS

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Two months ago I said goodbye to my house, hopped on a plane and started a new chapter in my life with my husband and two daughters. While the youngest one, who is 8 months old, does not seem to care, my oldest who is 3 years old seems to have a thousand questions going through her mind.  After only two weeks or so after arriving in our new country, she started inquiring about what was going on."Mommy, why are we visiting houses?", "why are we going to different schools?" and, more importantly, "where is my blue bike?" My answers were pretty straightforward and did not seem to help her much. But one morning, I found help.

It came to me in the form of an email from Mathilde Paterson, a blogger and founder of My Tailor Is An Expat, a comic blog on expatriation. She wanted to introduce Ulysse, petit expat; her recently released book explaining expatriation to kids! I was psyched, it was exactly what I had been looking for for my daughter. I was convinced from the very beginning of the book as Ulysse's story had so many similarities with ours. I could totally see my daughter in Ulysse and I would highly recommend this book to parents who are contemplating the expat life or who are already living it.

Three questions to Mathilde Paterson. The story behind Ulysse, petit expat.

I decided to write this book after noticing that a lot of my mum friends were facing difficulties with their kids at the beginning of their expat life. I did some research and I found a lot of books to help parent expatriates but not kids. At the same time, I had three kids pretty close to each other and I had a lot of books for them at home. I especially love the very simple and informative books such as "Petit Ours Brun."I had an idea to write the same type of book to explain expatriation to kids.

The story of Ulysse.

It is a simple and realistic story. It starts with a change of ambiance in Ulysse's home. His mom and dad often whisper and seem to be hiding something...One day they gather the kids and tell them they are going to be expatriates. Then everything goes so fast, packing, the move, the trip and settling down in the new country. At the beginning of his new life, Ulysse is excited until he goes to school and realizes that this is not a usual vacation. The important thing about my book is that we don't know where Ulysse goes. I really want all kids to be able to put themselves in Ulysse's shoes. 

How do you feel about expatriation?

I love it! I started traveling at the age of 17 and loved it from the beginning. I like settling down in a new country and developing new habits. The second year is usually the best. My kids were all born in Thailand and have never moved. I really would like to experience expatriation as a family, I think it would make us closer.

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