Monsieur Marceau: Actor Without Words by Leda Schubert, illustrated by Gerard Dubois. Roaring Brook Press, 2012.

Look at this man.
He climbs imaginary stairs.
He bows to an invisible person.
He tames a lion no one can see.
He plays a violin that isn’t there.

He does not speak.
His name is Marcel Marceau, and he is a mime.

An introduction to the French artist Marcel Marceau and to the ancient art of mime, this picture book would be an excellent one to read aloud to a group of young aspiring actors. I am fascinated myself by the idea of silence: what does it mean to be quiet, to refrain from speaking, to let one’s actions and gestures speak instead of the voice, to refuse to add to the clamor of voices and words that pervades our culture and our world. Marceau is quoted in this book, “Never get a mime talking. He won’t stop.” And my own experiments in silence have not lasted very long. I’m not even sure what the attraction is, why I have wanted to see how long I could last without speaking any words. I don’t know why I have marked in my Bible the many injunctions to “keep silent” (Proverbs 11:12) and “be still” (Psalm 46:10 and “control your tongue” (James 3:1-12) and just be quiet or use fewer words (Psalm 141:3; Proverbs 10:14; Proverbs 15: 1,2,4,7,28). But silence and the art of mime are a pet fascination of mine.

So, Marcel Marceau. I found a lot about him that I didn’t know from reading this 32 page picture book. He was Jewish. He was active in the French underground during World War II. His father died in a Nazi concentration camp during the war. He changed his name from Mangel to Marceau to conceal his Jewish heritage, but he said that He created the character Bip, named after the Dickens hero Pip in Great Expectations (Bip sounded better than “Peep” in French.) His screen idol was Charlie Chaplin.

The author also implies that Marceau was the originator of the famous dictum (a riff on Tolkien): “Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.” But the internet collectively seems to think that he origin of the proverb is indeterminate. And it’s morphed into dragons instead of wizards since the time Marceau said it.

Anyway, it’s a great picture book, and it made me want to read more, which is the entire purpose of picture book nonfiction, is it not? Well, also good pictures that make you want to see more are a purpose and an advantage, too. And this book has lovely colored paintings of Marceau is various poses, mostly on a solid white or dark background, to symbolize the silence around him, I suppose. As far as reading more, there’s a list of four books for further reading in the back of the book. And you can see the silent art of Marcel Marceau in this video (and many others on youtube):

Note: I’m beginning today a series of posts on some of my favorite picture book biographies. For more picture book biography suggestions, check out the following:
Read Aloud Revival: Picture Book Biographies We Love
Redeemed Reader: Picture Book Biographies Booklist
I have my own list of more than 300 picture book biographies that I am willing to share with you for a contribution of just $5.00 payable via PayPal. This list is currently in a Excel document, unfinished and still under construction. If you are interested in having a copy of the list, just email me at sherryDOTpray4youATgmailDOTcom.