On this day, 133 Years Ago, Helen Keller was Born
Your first clue that you’re about to read something special is that the jacket cover title, Helen’s Big World: The Life of Helen Keller ($17.99 Disney-Hyperion, ages 6 and up) by Doreen Rappaport with illustrations by Matt Tavares, is written in Braille. Here’s a picture book that utilizes every last available printed page to impart meaningful information to young readers.
To say that Helen Keller only changed the world’s attitude towards blindness would be an understatement. At 19 months old, Keller fell ill and the resulting blindness and deafness turned her life from bright to dark. Before their daughter’s seventh birthday, Helen’s parents hired the once legally blind teacher Annie Sullivan.
Sullivan would go on to change the course of Helen’s life with her unwavering devotion and determination to help Helen learn to communicate. Helen proved to be a sponge, soaking up every bit of information Sullivan could share. She eventually went on to college and became an advocate not just for people with disabilities, but for people of color, the poor and women. Author Rappaport injects many of Keller’s transformational quotes into this touching book. “We do not think with eyes and ears, and our capacity for thought is not measured by five senses.”
The evocative illustrations by accomplished artist Matt Tavares serve to highlight Keller’s courage and numerous abilities including a profound embrace of life and homeland. Not only are there resources listed in the end pages for children, but a Manual Language Chart, too. It’s been decades since I read about Helen Keller’s inspirational life so I appreciated learning many interesting new facts. In Keller young readers are sure to find a role model worth emulating.
Click here for a link to author Rappaport’s invaluable teachers’ guide.
– Reviewed by Ronna Mandel