WIDE FIELDS: The Story of Henri Fabre

This is disappointing biography. Irmengarde Eberle has done such charming nature books for small children that she seemed a good choice for the biographer of a naturalist. But apparently this is not her forts. The text seems written down -- sometimes the style is jerky, almost always it is prosaic -- the only color and drama comes from translations of some of Fabre's own work. The result is that children who are old enough to appreciate the content would be bored by the method; that children young enough to accept the method would not understand the content. The Frits Eichenberg pictures and the format (6 x 9) will place it for a younger group.