The adventures of the lovable booger!

Booger was born in Yvonne's little nostril. This yellow ball of salt has no idea what crazy adventures await him… Only author Mary Demers can turn a funny subject – the life of snot – into a well-researched story of resilience!

Image courtesy of Éditions de la Bagnole

How do we end up having a snotty person like the main character in our story?

I've always loved silly humor. I find we allow ourselves less, in Quebec… I wanted to write a character who was just funny, just no! Also, when I was young, I used to eat snot. I had a real fixation on snot. My story begins with little Yvonne sticking his snot to the edge of the sofa. This is what my brother did!

In children's literature, some stories try to “force” a message. This is not the case for you and it is a real breath of fresh air!

I think children's literature is often very moralistic…there's a lyrical aspect. I admit that I don't have that in my style at all: I'm either rude or comical. You can't be who you are in literature! Honestly, it was difficult to find a publisher for this game. Many have asked how to flesh out such a story… I felt there would be reluctance for such a silly character and I'm glad he was able to see the light of day.

Your story is meant to be humorous, but the topic of resilience is addressed in an original and effective way.

I found it interesting to prove that we can relate to any character. It's also about resetting the look: the painter Sachs's portraits, the fool's portraits, are great! It's basically disgusting, but to be able to look away and tell yourself that this snot has a right to live and be happy is something special.

Let's ask a funny question: Your snotty personality; What will be his strengths?

(Laughs) Naivety, hope, humor, and the ability to be admired. He's clearly not as smart as Snot, but perhaps this “lack” of intelligence is one of his strengths. Sometimes you just have to let life carry you.

Reading your album will spark funny discussions with the family! Do you think this might cause people to look at mucus differently?

Maybe… I did some research online and there is a study done to find out if eating our mucus helps strengthen our immune system and the answer would be YES! Apparently, it would be better for our bodies to eat our mucus than not to eat it.