Ingat jaman SD dulu, kalau ada jadwal ke perpustakaan atau guru lagi berhalangan masuk, kita sekelas disuruh ke perpustakaan. Berlomba lari dengan teman-teman sekelas, siapa yang sampai di perpustakaan lebih dulu akan punya kesempatan memilih buku kesukaan.

Kalau saya pasti milih rak buku cerita koleksi gramedia, buku saduran karya ilustrator Belgia Marcel Marlier. Yang paling saya sukai itu adalah gambarnya, juga petualangan yang sederhana dan samapi sekarang masih terkenang cerita-ceritanya. Seri favorit saya yaitu ketika Robi dan Susi berlibur ke rumah neneknya (kalau tidak salah) disitu mereka panen strawberi dan membuat selai starwberi sendiri, sampai cara memasak dan resepnya pun dicantumkan. Seri pertama yang saya baca itu ketika Robi dan Susi berpetualang ke Afrika, mereka memandikan gajah afrika di sungai

 Sedikit nukilan dari wikipedia tentang sang ilustrator :
Marcel Marlier (born November 18, 1930) is a Belgian artist and illustrator. He was born in Herseaux, Belgium. When he was 16, he enroled in decorative art at Saint-Luc de Tournai. He finished his studies in 1951 with the greatest distinction. He returned as a teacher two years later.
The French publisher La Procure à Namur organized a drawing contest. They were interested in finding talented artists to illustrate works for school children. Marlier won the competition. Two books resulted from this and these books guided a whole generation of French children through the first few years of school, I Read with Michel and Nicole and I Calculate with Michel and Nicole. Marlier collaboration with La Procure à Namur lasted more than 25 years.
Pierre Servais at Casterman, a French publishing company, began to notice Marlier's drawings in 1951. He suggested that Marlier should illustrate a series of books for children. ^{[1] [2]}The result was editions of Alexandre Dumas' adventure books. This was followed in 1953 by illustrations for a book by Jeanne Cappe about two very similar rabbits. Marlier also took part in the Farandole series, intended for children.

From 1954, Marlier illustrated the children's series Martine, with the stories written by Gilbert Delahaye. This series spans over 50 issues and has been translated in numerous languages. In 1969 Marlier also created his own series of children's books, Jean-Lou and Sophie.




Gambar ini yang sampai sekarang membuat saya sangat terkesan buku petualangan Robi dan Susi,  gambar dua orang anak yang sedang membaca buku dan di buku itu ada gambar mereka sedang membaca buku di dalam bambar buku yang mereka pegang itu ada gambar mereka lagi, fatamorgana dan semasa kecil dulu saya sampai capek kalau harus memikirkan sampai kapan gambar itu akan selesai?

Ps : Ternyata setelah search sana sini tulisan tentang Buku Robi dan Susi sangat minim, hanya ada beberapa di situ penjualan buku bekas, Amazon punya bebrapa koleksi versi sononya:
1. Debbie's Dream - 1983
2. 40 ans de dessin <--- kayaknya ini versi belanda ???













3. mark and Michelle in the forest (mungkin ini versi sononya Robi dan Susi) yang ini harganya murah banget...hanya 1 sen dollar  (silahkan dikonversi sendiri ke rupiah )