Les premières lignes / the first lines:

One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets.

And then a long wave of warmth crossed the small town. A flooding sea of hot air; it seemed as if someone had left a bakery door open. The heat pulsed among the cottages and bushes and children. The icicles dropped, shattering, to melt. The doors flew open. The windows flew up. The children worked off their wool clothes. The housewives shed their bear disguises. The snow dissolved and showed last summer’s ancient green lawns.

Contenu / content:

The whole of planet Earth is at war. So men fly to Mars to settle there and build a new world, just like the one built by Europeans on the American land a few centuries before. They meet the peaceful Martians living there.

Pistes/ Activities to participate in the festival:

Suggestions de passages à étudier / passages that can be studied

-February 1999 Ylla

from the beginning of the chapter to “What nonsense”

-June 2001: And the moon be still as bright

from “There was a touch of fire across the sky” to “some food”

from “Accordion, harmonica...” to “and change it to fit ourselves”

-August 2001: The settlers

-October 2002: The shore

-October 2026: The million year picnic

from “Where did you get the rocket?” to the end of the book

Written production:

A postal rocket goes between the Earth and Mars. One of the pioneers sends a letter home. Write it.

Oral production:

A martian meets an earthling, who has come to settle on Mars. Imagine their conversation. Record a video and send it to the festival. (maximum: 3 mns)