Piercing gaze, extremely present to others, attentive, sometimes impatient during meetings that dragged on, punctuated by her refrain phrase “come on, let’s move forward!” », Mijo Beccaria embodied the natural authority that is granted to the founders of great works. From the first glance, we knew that there was not the shadow of a distance between who she was, what she said and what she achieved. Her comments in the reading committee, her attention to the smallest page of children’s magazines, to the detail of an illustration, to a word that seemed vague to her, an emotion that was not explored enough, she constantly began to height of the child, at the height of those who could have stumbled in their reading and understanding.
From the beginning, the Bayard jeunesse project, embodied in the magazine Pomme d’Api then by all those who followed, Les belles histoire, J’aime Lire, Astrapi, Okapi and so many others, carried within them this desire to take all the children and not leave anyone on the side of the road. Welcoming the reader, inviting them to dialogue and resonate with their imaginary or everyday worlds, opening them to the force of the invisible, starting from their questions and their curiosity, in short giving children confidence , make them capable of opening up to the world and to others. For her, childhood was an immense territory that had to be protected, an incredible testimony of life. She was one of the first to work on issues of sexual abuse. Develop children’s inner freedom, make them feel deep down what consent is, this ability to say yes or no. At Mijo, this freedom found its source in his childhood, the landscapes of Périgord at the bottom of his heart, in young Christian students and in the companionship of the thought of François Varillon, a Jesuit who notably published Joie de vivre Joie de vivre, manifesto d’ a post-war generation who wanted to rebuild the world.
Mijo inspired confidence and gave confidence. She was grounded in reality with strength and courage. She loved the unique talents, the atypical beings that we often find among authors and illustrators and her teams, curious about everyone’s lives, the children who came, the worries, the destinies. She had great respect for creation, her ability to draw images and words that touch, arrest attention and “bring closer” to oneself.
Mijo was a founder. With Anne-Marie de Besombes, who directed the magazines for adolescents, and shared with her this same ambition for young people. With Yves, her husband, her soul mate, who died seven years ago. With others, obviously. Bayard would have no meaning without teamwork. When she left Bayard, Mijo concluded her farewell speech with this sentence: “Don’t forget the children.” May his words inspire our world!