about the book
Marcel Marceau has been called the world’s most famous mime. For fifty years he worked his magic for audiences around the world; every gesture of his, every wave of his hand or lift of his eyebrow, was carefully orchestrated to give the fullest meaning possible.
Many knew of his entertainments. Few knew of Marceau’s life when he was not in makeup. For example, Marceau fought in World War II. And he was Jewish.
World War II took place when Marceau was a young man, but his age didn’t stop him from taking heroic risks: he helped to hide Jewish children and Allied parachute troops in his home. In fact, his name used to be Mangel—very Jewish—and so he even changed his identity so he could better help fight the terror of the Nazis.
Marceau says that part of why he chose to be a silent entertainer is his Jewish heritage and the sorrow he felt for his kinsmen at what happened to them during the war.
After the war Marceau began to put his mime skills to use, and rose to prominence in entertaining presidents, princesses, kings, and queens all over the world.
about the author
Leda Schubert has been a student, a teacher, a school librarian, a public children’s librarian, and a consultant for the Vermont Department of Education. She’s also been on many book selection committees such as the Caldecott committee, the Boston Globe-Horn Book committee, and the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Committee.
Sources:
Author website
Schubert, Leda. 2007. Personal correspondence.
Also by Leda Schubert :
The Princess of Borscht. Roaring Brook Press. 2011.
Reading to Peanut. Holiday House. 2011.
Feeding the Sheep. Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. 2010.
Ballet of the Elephants. Roaring Brook Press. 2006.
about the illustrator
Gerard DuBois was born in France in 1968. He studied graphic design at the L.E.I. Rue Madame school as well as the Ecole Superieure Estienne in Paris, for five years. After graduating he moved to Montreal, Canada, where he still lives today with his wife and kids.
Source:
Illustrator website
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