WIDE FIELDS, THE STORY OF HENRI FABRE
By Irmengarde Eberle
Illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1943
Children’s books rock. Do I say this too much? Seriously, though, they do. Today’s book is yet another case in point …
I’ve been researching Jean Henri Fabre, a nineteenth century French naturalist and writer whose life and work fascinates me. (I’m so fascinated, in fact, that I am writing a picture book biography of the man.) During the past year I have read several biographies of Fabre that were written for adults. And not one of these comes close to being as interesting and compelling as WIDE FIELDS, which is a Fabre biography written for children. Fist of all, the illustrations are superb … Fritz Eihenberg presents a vital and personable Fabre that readers cannot help but adore. The text, too, is superb … Irmengarde Eberle’s work is an intelligent blend of dialogue* and narrative aimed, of course, at keeping the interest of young readers. But more than both of these things, I was drawn by the glimpse into Fabre’s personal life that Eberle provides, something none of his other biographers chose to do. I met not only the esteemed naturalist, but also his parents, his grandparents, his eight children, his wives (Fabre remarried after the death of his first wife), and the family pets. By including this children’s book in my research, I have a much more rounded view of the man, his life, and his work.
See? Children’s books rock.
*The dialogue perplexes me. Some of it is clearly taken from Fabre’s works. But all of it? I am not sure; I need to keep reading. I have only read translations of two of Fabre’s ten volume masterpiece. But (and this is my one criticism of the book) there is no Author’s note in WIDE FIELDS to tell me where the dialogue comes from. Hmmmmm.