Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and His World of Insects

by Matthew Clark Smith, Giuliano Ferri (Illustrator)

Overview

A moth with a sixth sense. A wasp that hunts beetles nearly twice its size. The lives of fascinating creatures such as these were unknown until one man introduced them to the world.

Meet Jean-Henri Fabre, one of the most important naturalists of all time. As a boy in the French countryside, Henri spent hours watching insects. He dreamed of observing them in a new way: in their own habitats. What he discovered in pursuing that dream was shocking; these small, seemingly insignificant creatures led secret lives—lives of great drama!

With its lively, lyrical text and richly detailed illustrations, this intriguing picture-book biography introduces the man who would forever change the way we look at insects, bringing to life the fascinating world of dazzling beetles, ferocious wasps, and other amazing small wonders that exist all around us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781477826324
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	05/12/2015
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	AD880L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Matthew Clark Smith has been an amateur naturalist and lover of insects for nearly his whole life, having studied biology in school and worked in environmental science since then. He’s also a designer, musician, and mapmaker, and he recently earned a graduate degree in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. He lives in Jackson, Mississippi, with his family, where he says you have little choice but to come to terms with bugs. Small Wonders is his first children’s book.

Giuliano Ferri is a prizewinning illustrator and animator whose picture books have been published throughout the world. Like Jean-Henri Fabre, as a boy he, too, loved to lie in the grass to watch insects and discover the secret world hiding under his feet. Ferri lives in Pesaro, Italy, with his family.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/27/2015
First-time author Smith offers a rewarding overview of naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre, opening his recounting in southern France, where the elderly scientist was a figure of mystery, known for collecting and speaking to animals: “Whether he was a sorcerer or a madman no one could agree.” Village curiosity peaks when the president of France arrives to speak with Fabre. Smith then backtracks to explore the often melancholy life of his subject, who found solace and splendor studying and writing about insects. Ferri’s vibrant watercolor-and-pencil illustrations revel in the details and diversity of the insects that so fascinated Fabre, while end notes offer extensive historical background to bolster this rousing tribute to the rewards of following one’s passions. Ages 6–9. (May)

Publishers Weekly

The distinctive, enduring affection with which [Jean-Henri Fabre] regarded his diminutive subjects regardless of their often savage behavior comes through clearly here, both in Smith’s warm narrative and Ferri’s equally engaging views of the naturalist.” —Kirkus Review (starred review)

“First-time author Smith offers a rewarding overview of naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre…[A] rousing tribute to the rewards of following one’s passions.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“This enchanting picture book biography examines the life and work of 19th-century French entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre. Fairy tale–like in tone, the first few pages will easily draw in children… A must-have.” —School Library Journal (Starred Review)

“Small Wonders is, itself, a small wonder. A captivating and word perfect exploration of an extraordinary man, written in clear and wonder-filled prose, beautifully, thoughtfully illustrated. A rare pleasure.” —Tim Wynne-Jones, author of Blink & Caution

“E. O. Wilson famously said ‘small things rule the world.’ Trouble is, few of us bother to understand the small creatures that share the earth with us. Here, at last, is the true story of an important exception: Jean Henri Fabre. Curious about insects and their behavior, Fabre refused to study insects as dead specimens. Instead, he dedicated his life to observing their behavior in their natural habitats. Fabre’s fascinating discoveries come to life in the lively text and lush watercolors of Small Wonders. Together, they create an illuminating portrait of a little known scientific pioneer who changed the way we look at the natural world around us.” —Phillip Hoose, author of Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95, a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book

“Small Wonders is a big marvel, a rare ray of light. It’s a great story well told and superbly illustrated, carefully crafted from what’s real. Hurrah!” —Bernd Heinrich, author of The Homing Instinct: Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration

From the Publisher

05/01/2015
Gr 2–5—This enchanting picture book biography examines the life and work of 19th-century French entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre. Fairy tale-like in tone, the first few pages will easily draw in children, as Smith describes the actions of an old hermit who was considered a local eccentric by those in his village for his habit of speaking to animals and collecting insects ("Whether he was a sorcerer, or simply a madman, no one could agree."). The villagers were shocked, however, when Fabre received a visit from the president of France. Readers are then taken back in time to learn about Fabre's childhood, education, and ever-present interest in the natural world, as well as his unconventional teaching and writings on insect behavior. Indeed, he often shocked fellow scientists with his bizarre findings. Smith's engaging text conveys Fabre's zeal for his subject, while Ferri's gorgeously detailed watercolor and pencil illustrations of plant life and insects beg readers to stop and look both at the pages as well as at the natural world around them. Historical and author's notes and a useful time line add further context. VERDICT A must-have.—Jennifer Wolf, Beaverton City Library, OR

School Library Journal

★ 2015-03-03
The rewards of simply taking time to bend down for a closer look are celebrated in this tribute to the great French entomologist. Seeing as a lad that "every patch of dirt and tangle of weeds buzzed with insects: dazzling beetles, ferocious wasps, sweet-singing crickets, and more," young Fabre went on to devote a long life to watching common insects rather than just collecting dead specimens as most of his contemporary colleagues did. The distinctive, enduring affection with which he regarded his diminutive subjects regardless of their often savage behavior comes through clearly here, both in Smith's warm narrative and Ferri's equally engaging views of the naturalist. He delightedly discovers a shimmering hoplia beetle beneath a leaf, smiles from his sickbed as a handful of hibernating bees revives after his son carries them indoors, and is wonderstruck by an account of how Cerceris wasps paralyze beetles as live food for offspring. (The illustrator has a little fun with viewers by adding a looming insectile shadow as well as close-up views of hovering wasps in this last scene.) Fabre's many original discoveries and insights won him renown, and though he is largely unknown to nonspecialists today, his nose-to-nose approach to the natural world is well worth commemorating to modern readers. Long before Yogi Berra said, "You can observe a lot by watching," Fabre proved it so. (historical note, timeline, author's note, annotated source list) (Picture book/biography. 9-11)

Kirkus Reviews