great story of fairly unknown scientist ( )

Lovely picture biography of Jean-Henri Fabre -- a scientist who wrote so powerfully about the lives of insects that he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. ( )

The text of this book is unclear and confusing. The backmatter, especially the historical note, would have made a better book. The artwork is nice, but not enough. ( )

This is a great book for children to discover the small insects that live around them and get an insight into their lives. In the story Jean-Henri likes watching insects and discovers how these small things live their lives and exist in the world around us.

Ages 2-5
Pierce College Library

I usually don't read books about insects, but this one was more about Jean-Henri Fabre and his lifelong love of insects. I like how it went through some of his research and how it just started with an observation. I think this book shows that science is so broad and not limited to what the children think is science, which is usually someone mixing chemicals. This book would be a good introduction to a science unit on insects, or if we wanted to talk about what scientists look like. I like the storytelling in this book. ( )

Summary: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. This book tells about the man that would forever change the way that the world looks at insects.

Personal Reaction: This book was a good read, I do not care for insects but it will was interesting and I think that kids would enjoy reading it. It tells a great story.

Classroom Extension: One classroom extension I would do would be to take the kids outside around the playground and school campus and let them search for bugs. Another thing you could do would be to have the kids take their daily journal with them and when they find bugs to record the ones they found and what they looked like. ( )

Small Wonders is one of the best picture book biographies I have ever read. The illustrations light up the comprehensive telling of the life of the Nobel Prize winner, Jean-Henri Fabre. Each page is filled with detailed pictures of the several bugs Jean Fabre studied and also shows elements of setting that paints a picture of the small town Jean lived in. Furthermore, the language used in this book is highly educational. Academic language paired with accurate examples of how Jean studied the lives of spiders who weave their webs in the night, are the characteristics that make this a great book. Small Wonders is a beautiful showcase of the life of Jean-Henri Fabre. ( )