A Teacher Gift with a French Accent : La Fontaine's Fables as Art Prints
Every school year ends with the same question : what do you give the teacher ? After the mug, the candle and the tote bag, this guide offers the gift that stays on the wall : a La Fontaine fable in full, set like the page of an old French edition, from 35 €. The poem their class learned, framed, signed on the back by every child.
Why a French poem instead of a mug ?
Because teachers receive mugs, candles and chocolates every single year, and one more of those disappears into a cupboard. A framed fable does the opposite : it stays on the classroom or living-room wall, and it speaks of their work. La Cigale et la Fourmi, the grasshopper and the ant, is the fable French children learn first ; its story is told in our reading of the fable.
Which La Fontaine fable makes the best teacher gift ?
Three fables exist as prints, each with the full French text : La Cigale et la Fourmi for the class that recited it, Le Corbeau et le Renard, the crow and the fox, for the funniest lesson on the syllabus, and Le Chêne et le Roseau, the oak and the reed, for a teacher who bends and does not break. The safest choice is the fable the class studied this year : ask your child, they know it by heart.
For the book lover : Proust's madeleine
For a literature teacher or a great reader, the madeleine passage from Proust : the most famous excerpt in French literature, set as a print. The text itself is in our article, so you can give it knowingly.
What should the card say ?
A short, true note beats a long card. Three that work : « Thank you for a year of patience and ideas. » « You made our child love school. » « A French fable for you, from the whole class. » And the gesture that makes the gift : have every child sign the back of the print.
End of year, Christmas, and the teaching assistant ?
Teacher gifts have two seasons : the end of the school year, and Christmas. A print fits both, alone or as a group gift : the large format at 70 € comes to less than 3 € per family in a class of 25. The teaching assistant deserves the same gesture in the base size at 35 €. Printed and shipped from a studio near you : most orders arrive in 3 to 5 business days.
Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage, sans doute. Le Corbeau et le Renard, Jean de La Fontaine
The Last Word
The right teacher gift is not the most expensive one : it is the one that shows you noticed their work. A fable they taught, framed and signed by the class, says it better than any mug : pick this year's poem and you are done.
Four Ideas for the Teacher
La Fontaine's fables and Proust's madeleine as typographic art prints, printed to order on 170 g/m² matte paper.
See all quote prints →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good teacher gift beyond a mug?
A framed French fable by La Fontaine: La Cigale et la Fourmi, Le Corbeau et le Renard or Le Chêne et le Roseau, with the full text as a typographic print from 35 €. The safest pick is the fable the class studied this year.
How much should I spend on a teacher gift?
35 € for a single print. As a class group gift, the large format at 70 € comes to less than 3 € per family in a class of 25, for a gift that stays on the wall.
What should I write on the card?
Keep it short and true: « Thank you for a year of patience and ideas » or « You made our child love school. » A signature from the child, or the whole class on the back of the print, does the rest.
What about the teaching assistant or the childminder?
The same gesture works for everyone: a fable for the teacher, Proust's madeleine for great readers, and the base size at 35 € for the teaching assistant or the childminder, always with a signed note.
