Discussion  on ‘Le Petit Nicolas', translated into Bangla by Md Riadul Islam , was held at the Auditorium Nouvelle Vague, Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) on Friday.

The discussants were Bangla Academy Literary Awardee Researcher Prof Dr Masuduzzaman, academic and former VC of Barishal University Prof Dr S M Imamul Huq, and Embassy of France in Dhaka’s Cultural Attaché Yohann Gigarel.

‘Le Petit Nicolas’ (Young Nicolas) was created in 1959 and was the fruit of the fertile imagination of two geniuses: René Goscinny, creator and Jean-Jacques Sempé, illustrator. Thousands of children discovered the pleasure of reading through the books describing the little hero's antics.

In this book, the central character Nicholas is sensitive and attached to true values like friendship towards people and love of one's parents, and has some sense of justice. For attributes like these, the young schoolboy still appeals to all generations.

‘Le Petit Nicolas’ has become an international success, as the book is praised for detailing the adventures and has been translated into about fifty languages.

With 15 million copies sold for all titles, ‘Le Petit Nicolas’ became an international hero among children.

This book is used as a textbook in many schools in France and many other Francophone countries. It is also recommended as a learning material for French language learners worldwide.

Md Riadul Islam, an assistant professor of French at the Institute of Modern Languages of Shahjalal University of Sciences and Technology, Sylhet, has translated the book into Bengali for the first time - and this is his maiden translated book as well.