Timothée de Fombelle was born in the heart of Paris in 1973 but often accompanied his architect father on travels to Africa. Each summer, his family would retreat to the countryside in western France, where the five siblings lived like wild horses—building huts in the trees, playing in the river, and exploring the woods. In the evenings, they performed plays for their parents and devoured books from the library. For him, childhood remains a lost paradise that he rediscovers through writing.
De Fombelle began his career as a playwright in 1990 with Le Phare, written in collaboration with actor Clément Sibony. Many of his plays, such as Je danse toujours, focus on themes of loss and fragility, though he occasionally writes comedies, like Rose Cats. Je danse toujours was read at the opening of the Festival d’Avignon.
In 2006, he debuted as an author with Toby Alone, a young adult novel published by Gallimard Jeunesse. The novel achieved immense success, being translated into 29 languages and receiving 20 awards, including the English Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation, the Italian Andersen Award, and most major French awards for children’s literature. The film rights were acquired by Amber Entertainment (UK, United States).
Toby Alone and its sequel, Toby and the Secrets of the Tree, tell the story of a boy just a millimeter and a half tall who lives in an oak tree and must save it from destruction.
About the book in focus
Toby Alone, Toby and the Secrets of the Tree (Candlewick, 2009 and 2010)
A breathless, high-stakes quest to save the miniature world of the Tree—and reunite loved ones lost—unfolds with wit, suspense, and startling revelations.
Toby’s world is under greater threat than ever before. A giant crater has been dug right into the center of the Tree, moss and lichen have invaded the branches, and one tyrant controls it all. Leo Blue, once Toby’s best friend, is holding Toby’s beloved Elisha prisoner, hunting the Grass People with merciless force, and inflicting a life of poverty and fear on the Tree People. But after several years among the Grass People, Toby has returned to fight back. And this time he’s not alone: a resistance is forming. In the much-anticipated sequel to the award-winning Toby Alone, the compelling eco-adventure reaches its gripping conclusion.
Book
Toby Alone, Toby and the Secrets of the Tree (Candlewick, 2009 and 2010)
When
January 2025
Where
Kerala Literature Festival 2025