Title Le livre secret des Nains Series --- Author Katherine Quénot Illustrator Civiello Publisher Albin Michel - 2005 First Printing Albin Michel - 2005 Category Reference Warnings --- Main Characters N/A Main Elements Dwarves

Pourquoi avons-nous oublié les Nains? Pourquoi ne les entendons-nous plus le soir dans les montagnes, les bois, les collines, frapper la roche pour nous parler ou nous avertir de quelque danger? Les nains sont là, pétris dans la terre et la roche, vivant des vies si différentes de la notre et tellement plus longues que nos deux espèces ne peuvent se rencontrer que de manière innéfable...

I had previously read Le livre secret des Elfes and didn't like it. I felt differently about this one, I didn't love it but I thought it was much better done, sticking more to folklore and not trying to find some sciency explanation for why we can't see them. I also liked the artwork better, perhaps because the dwarves and gnomes tend to wear clothes? For a kids book the other one was a touch explicit, though this one mentioned dwarvish sexual appetites on more than one occasion. I can't quite say what it was that still prevented my from really liking it and feeling like I learned something new, but I feel like there must be better books out there? But it isn't a bad book either.

The book however had a big publishing error in that one page was duplicated! I'm not sure if that meant that another page was lost, since each page covered a more or less standalone topic it was hard to tell.