THE WILD BOY
by Mordicai Gerstein & illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein
The wild child of Aveyron, captured in southern France at the very end of the 18th century, has been the subject of a film by Franáois Truffaut, and numerous books, including a novel by Gerstein (see review, above). This picture-book treatment, with expressive and immediate illustrations, stays close to the historical record and is poignant, if antiseptic. When found, the boy is naked, mute, and likely terrified, treated as a freak and then cast aside by the experts, a cruelty that even the youngest audience will grasp. Enter the doctor, Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard, who takes the boy, now Victor, as his protÇgÇ. While it is clear that the boy never truly adjusts, it is even more appealing that his essential wildness remains intact—a fact that will rivet children. (Picture book. 5-7)