ISBN: 9780590424042
Can a blind person learn to read… or ride a bicycle… or swim… or sled… or play board games? Can a deaf person learn to hear… and speak with their mouths? Can a blind, deaf and “dumb” person have friends or go to college or live a full life?
That is exactly what Helen Keller (1880-1968) did!
Helen’s life started off as the life of a healthy child, when one day she contracted scarlet fever and progressively grew weaker and weaker, until it affected her senses to such an extent that she was left blind and deaf, and eventually could not speak either, leaving her with (so it seemed) no way of communication, and no future.
But against all odds, against the initial predictions of the doctor, and with the love, patience and determination of a brilliant, gifted person and tutor (Annie Sullivan (1866-1936), from the Perkins Institute), Helen came to understand that there was hope after all, and she lived a full, long and happy life until she was 87 years old!
Helen learned to listen, read and communicate through touch. Her advice to others was, “…live as much like other people as you can. Keep your life full of books and work and friends. I do – and look how well it has worked for me.” She graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and afterwards became an author and a lecturer.
It didn’t happen overnight, and it wasn’t always easy, but trying and keeping at it, never giving up, Annie Sullivan showed the Kellers, as well as the rest of the world, that where there is a will there is a way.
Aimed at 10+ year-olds, this particular story is written in short, simple sentences, yet use colourful language to offer the reader a real experience, introducing the very inspirational life of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan. It is a definite, short must-read for any educator, especially for those difficult days.
The book includes the Braille alphabet on the back cover (in raised letters) – a brilliant living book!
“Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would go blind. Hear the song of a bird as if tomorrow you would go deaf. Touch everything as if tomorrow you would never be able to touch anything again. Smell the flowers, taste every bit of food as if tomorrow you would never smell or taste again” ~ Helen Keller
