Discovering Mayenne through the eyes of a little cow and a bull calf is the project of Fabienne Touchais Raimbault. The resident of Saint-Berthevin wants to introduce Mayenne to children aged 5 and over through a collection of 10 volumes, called Mayenne is really meuuhhh. “This is the first children’s book to highlight the department“, she assures.
The adventures of Mayguerite and Campagnou
Formerly in administration, the fifty-year-old, who struggled to find work despite numerous applications, converted to graphics and layout in 2022. At the beginning of the collection, Fabienne Touchais Raimbault worked on the illustration of children’s cups, on sale at the Laval Tourisme boutique. “Once I had my 2 little cow heads, I said to myself that they had lots of things to tell about Mayenne“, she smiles. This is how, at the beginning of January 2026, the Berthevinoise launched into the writing, illustration and layout of her first volume which follows the adventures of the cow Mayguerite and the bull calf Campagnou.
“So many themes of which Mayenne can be proud”
The first book will focus on the breeding of dairy cows, “to tell the daily life of breeders, the journey from grass to milk and from field to plate“, explains the author, who met several farmers in the area to be as close as possible to reality. “I realized that there are so many themes of which Mayenne can be proud“, she adds. She then lists around ten in anticipation of future works: the main towns of the department, the world of horses, the Mayenne river, the castles, sport and athletes in Mayenne, the jewels of Mayenne, etc.
In addition to a story and illustrations, produced using artificial intelligence due to lack of money to employ an illustrator and time, each volume will also have a glossary at the end of the book, small games and coloring pages.
“I would like to have it printed in Mayenne”
To finance the first book in the collection, Fabienne Touchais Raimbault launched an online prize pool on the Ulule platform. “To further anchor this project in the territory, I would like to have it printed in Mayenne, but local printing companies are not competitive compared to online printing companies.“, she underlines. Several rewards for donations are planned, including the sending of the first volume, which is scheduled for release in mid-June. “There is also a charitable counterpart. For a donation of €100, 5 books and 5 bookmarks will be offered to the Laval branch of Secours populaire“, concludes the author.
