A Mesmerizing Picture Book Exploration!

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Have you ever wondered about the origin of the word mesmerize? First of all, it is such a fun word to say! It just rolls off the tongue, it sounds fancy and it is well… a little mesmerizing!

Something even more intriguing is the story behind the origin of the word! So come and follow me in exploring Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France, by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno. This is a wonderfully true and whimsical account of an episode of the life of Dr. Mesmer, a German physician.

Mesmerized: the picture book

The moment I saw the cover, I knew I had to read this book! Yes, I totally judge books by their covers, and most of the time, I am right in my judgement. This one was no exception. What a wonderful book!

Mara Rockliff is a prolific picture and chapter book author. She has written many of the biography picture books featured in A Daily Picture Book’s subscription based booklists. She finds the most mesmerizing person in history, researches their lives and writes delightful and intriguing picture books about them. Her writing is a joy to read aloud and listen to. I am so glad I learned all about Dr. Mesmer because of her curiosity.

The art and style of Iacopo Bruno stole my heart immediately! The whimsical way he has depicted the French Court had me rolling! I could just imagine them being truly as he portrays them. Very fancy, definitely haughty and totally credulous! These illustrations are a perfect match to the text and are a delight to the eye.

Dr. Mesmer

Franz Anton Mesmer was born in southwestern Germany in 1734 to a forester father and his wife. He studied medicine at the University of Vienna and became a physician. Franz Mesmer believed that just like earth, the human body had tides that were affected by the moon and planets. He soon married a wealthy widow and was able to focus his attention on his tide theory. His theory of tides morphed into “animal magnetism”, an invisible force possessed by all living things. He claimed that this force could have physical effects, including healing. And thus he arrived in Paris and established himself as a doctor to the wealthy. After the investigation that included Benjamin Franklin, Mesmer had to flee France and take refuge in Switzerland where he finished his life as a little doctor.

Mesmerism

Mesmerism is now a synonym of hypnotism and neither has anything to do with “animal magnetism” nor tides in the human body. Isn’t it fascinating how words come to life? I had never thought of the origin of this word, but now that I know all about Dr. Mesmer, I will never use it without thinking of him. Was he a fraud or was he honest and believed what he was doing? We will never know but what a mesmerizing story.

Science

Science is such a fascinating field! In  Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France, by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno, Benjamin Franklin brings to life the scientific method. It is described and explained so clearly, the book does all the teaching. Go back through the story and write down the scientific method steps that Benjamin Franklin followed. You can now apply these steps to all areas of life you might have questions about. The scientific method can definitely be trifled with but if you follow the steps carefully rather than trying to prove that your hypothesis is right, it will yield great results. You have to be open to being wrong. Curiosity is limitless and the scientific method helps us to get answers to our questions.

Fashion

The story had nothing to do with fashion, but the illustrations did. One of the elements that really captured my eye with this book is the details in clothing and hairdos, I found them fantastic. It is a well known historic fact that Benjamin Franklin scandalized the French Court by his dress. Everyone was appalled at his lack of elegance. In the 1780s, the French Court was the center of fashion, the ultimate dictator of what to wear, what to eat, how to do your hair, etc… while America was, well, a little more simple. Comparing both worlds of fashion is fascinating! The French, at Court, were really going overboard trying to outdo each other while the Americans tried to remain more practical. It says so much about each country, lol! So compare court apparel to our colonial fashion and imagine which you would have rather have worn.

History

Fashion is such a great testimony of the times. The French Court was in decline at the time, a few short years later the French Revolution would do short work of high fashion. This desire to outdo each other at Court was one of the catalysts of the French Revolution. Isn’t it incredible? In their desire to outdo each other the French nobles went into deeper and deeper debt, taxing their lands and people to death, sometimes literally. This increasing poverty of the peasantry triggered its discontent and its desire to do away with the main cause of their poverty: the nobility. Maybe having been a little more prudent about how they looked at Court might have saved their heads…

Tasty treat

I chose French Lace Cookies to enjoy alongside this book because they seemed perfect to me. French lace is beautiful, refined and delicate. The cookies appear just the same, they must have looked lovely on silver dishes at Marie-Antoinetter’s side. And Martha Washington was quite fond of them as well. Therefore they could unite nations despite the difference in fashion, lol! A fairly simple cookie, it is so versatile it also reminded me of Benjamin Franklin, despite his lack of fashion. Therefore it was the perfect choice of treat to accompany this book.

Mesmerized and the emperor has no clothes

This picture book reminded me greatly of the fairy tale, The Emperor Has No Clothes, we love the Virginia Lee Burton version. Yes, the scientific method was used to prove that Dr. Mesmer was a fraud but, to my modern mind, it should have been obvious from the get go. How often are we mesmerized by new fangled ideas that do not necessarily hold any truths? Doing our research and applying the scientific method in daily life might come in quite handy and help us not be fooled by shining mirrors…
One more book recommendation, if you have never read it, and enjoyed this picture book, I would highly recommend reading Ben and Me: An Astonishing life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos, by Robert Lawson. A fantastic living book biography of Ben Franklin which the whole family will enjoy, from 0 to 100 years old! 
Love,
Mattie