Nobody's Child

Nobody’s Child: The Adventures of Remy

Nobody’s Boy is a heart warming and moving children’s classic story by the French writer Hector Malot (1830-1907) First published as Sans Famille in 1878, the story has been a favorite for generations and was filmed and adapted for television many times.

Remy is found abandoned as a baby in Paris by Barberin. a stonemason whose wife welcomes the little boy lovingly. But when Remy is only eight years old, Barberin sells him to Vitalis, a traveling singer. Vitalis becomes Remy’s guide, teaching him to survive by playing the harp in market squares. He performs in villages and towns throughout France with Joli-Cœur, a monkey, and three friendly dogs named Capi, Zerbino, and Dolce.

After many adventures and trials, working as a street musician and as a miner and gardener—even spending time in prison—Remy discovers almost too late who he really is. The truth about his birth and why he had been abandoned is finally revealed, and Remy can look forward to a happy and secure future.

This translation is by Beatrys Lockie, who worked as a Steiner Kindergarten teacher and has lectured widely on early-years education. She is a storyteller who loves telling Nobody’s Child, which has become popular in Waldorf schools.

About the Author

Hector Malot was a French writer born in La Bouille, Seine-Maritime. He studied law in Rouen and Paris, but eventually literature became his passion. He worked as a dramatic critic for Lloyd Francais and as a literary critic for L’Opinion Nationale.
His first book, published in 1859, was Les Amants. In total Malot wrote over 70 books. By far his most famous book is Sans Famille (Nobody’s Boy, 1878), which deals with the travels of the young orphan Remi, who is sold to the streetmusician Vitalis at age 10. Sans Famille gained fame as a children’s book, though it was not originally intended as such. He announced his retirement as an author of fiction in 1895, but in 1896 he returned with the novel L’amour Dominateur as well as the account of his literary life Le Roman de mes Romans (The Novel of my Novels).