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Youth Department (Continued)
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Youth Department (Continued)
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This department of the LowVis Bookstore features selected books for visually-impaired youth and their families.
Sarah's Sleepover
by Bobbie Rodriguez, Mark Graham
(Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-8. School & Library Binding - 32 pages
(May 2000) Viking Childrens Books.
Nicely textured paintings with close attention to light and dark illustrate this earnest picture book. Sarah loves it when her five girl cousins, whom she recognizes by their voices and their footsteps, come to stay. They gather in Sarah's room and find games to play with her. While the parents are visiting a neighbor, the lights go out, and Sarah finds that her blindness helps her to recognize sounds that frighten her cousins and to lead the other girls downstairs so parents can be called. When the grownups return and fix the fuse, the girls decide to stay in the dark and tell stories and play guessing games. The jacket copy specifically mentions Sarah's blindness, but the text does not, which may leave some youngsters confused, and the words "The wind howled" are the only indicator of the storm that apparently knocked out the lights. The telling is somewhat awkward, but the heart of the story is in the right place.
The Secret Code (Rookie Readers)
by Dana Meachen Rau, Bari Weissman
(Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-8. School & Library Binding - 32 pages
(March 1998) Children's Press. Other Editions:
Paperback.
Oscar, who is blind, teaches Lucy how to read his Braille book. This book was written for young children (4 to 8 years) so they can understand how blind children read Braille. In simple language and colourful illustrations it tells the story of how Oscar, a blind boy, teaches his friend Lucy how to read his Braille Book. The book is important because today when most blind children are educated in regular schools it is vital that sighted children have books they can read about blind children and how they learn. There are very few books available at this level in school or public libraries or even in print. Teachers, parents and librarians are frustrated at this lack of such materials that are available from major publishing companies.
See The Ocean
by Estelle Condra, Linda Crockett-Blassingame
(Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-8. Hardcover (April 2002) Eager Minds
Press.
Ever since Nellie was an infant, her family has vacationed by the ocean. On the way there, her brothers, Gerald and Jamin, always spot the sea first; however, one year a dense fog obscures their view, and Nellie, who is blind, wins the game. The placement of the text in semitransparent panels on the double-page illustrations emphasizes the inseparability of words and pictures in the sentimental story.
Seeing Things My Way
by Alden R. Carter
Reading level: Ages 4-8. School & Library Binding - 32 pages
(September 1998) Albert Whitman & Co.
A heartwarming narrative related by a visually impaired child. In a matter-of-fact manner, second-grader Amanda explains how she deals with her sight loss in her daily life. The full-color photographs on each page show the girl and others using various tools and aids (Braille, magnifiers, guide dogs, etc.) to help them learn, work, maneuver safely, and communicate.
Sees Behind Trees
by Michael Dorris
Reading level: Ages 9-12. Paperback - 128 pages Reissue edition
(May 1999) Hyperion (J). Also on Audio Cassette.
In turns lyrical, wise, and funny, this compelling novel, set in sixteenth-century America, tells the story of how one Native American boy learns to turn handicap into an advantage as he crossed the often blurred boundaries between being a child and becoming a man.
See the Ocean
by Estelle Condra, Linda Crockett-Blassingame
(Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-8. Hardcover - 32 pages (July 1994) Ideals
Childrens Books.
Ever since Nellie was an infant, her family has vacationed by the ocean. On the way there, her brothers, Gerald and Jamin, always spot the sea first; however, one year a dense fog obscures their view, and Nellie, who is blind, wins the game. The placement of the text in semitransparent panels on the double-page illustrations emphasizes the inseparability of words and pictures in the sentimental story.
Seeing Lessons : The Story of Abigail Carter and America's First
School for Blind People
by Spring Hermann, Ib Ohlsson
(Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 9-12. Hardcover - 176 pages 1 Ed edition
(October 1998) Henry Holt & Company,
Inc.
In 1832, when Abigail Carter was only ten years old, two doctors from Boston invited her to be one of the first students in an experimental institution: a school for blind people. Abby and her younger sister Sophia, also blind, packed their bags and headed to the city. For the first time in their lives, the two girls were able to read a book for themselves and to write a letter to their father.
Seven Blind Mice
by Ed Young
Reading level: Ages 4-8. School & Library Binding (April 1992)
Philomel Books.
In the Indian fable, each blind mouse visits the elephant and declares that he has discovered a pillar, a snake, a cliff, a spear, a fan, or a rope. But a seventh mouse, the only one to investigate the whole something is able to discern that it is an elephant. The spareness of the text is echoed in the splendid collages. Immensely appealing.
Shark Shock
by Donna Jo Napoli
Reading level: Ages 9-12. Paperback Reprint edition (October 1996)
Puffin.
Shark Shock offers a lighthearted but realistic look at the fears contemporary children encounter as they grow up. In this companion to Soccer Shock, Adam and his family head to New Jersey for a well-deserved summer vacation. Only Adam is reluctant. His friend Grayson presented a horrifying report on sharks before school was out, and now Adam fears for his life. Over the course of the summer, Adam learns that, although he can't deny his fears, he can put them in perspective just as his new-found friend Seth does. Seth, two years Adam's senior and blind since a waterskiing accident when he was 10, continues to explore and experience life in spite of his natural fears. The effective multidimensional characterization of Seth, actually a secondary character, moves this book from an optional purchase of lighthearted humor to an important one of diversity, empathy, and understanding.
The Storyteller's Beads
by Jane Kurtz, Liz Van Doren (Editor), Michael
Bryant (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-8. Hardcover - 128 pages 1 Ed edition (May
1998) Gulliver Books.
A reader writes:
During the political strife and famine of the 1980's, two Ethiopian girls, one Christian and the other Jewish and blind, struggle to overcome many difficulties, including their prejudices about each other, as they make the dangerous journey out of Ethiopia.
Tangerine
by Edward Bloor
Reading level: Young Adult. Hardcover - 304 pages 1 Ed edition
(April 1997) Harcourt Brace.
So what if he's legally blind? Even with his bottle-thick, bug-eyed glasses, Paul Fisher can see better than most people. He can see the lies his parents and brother live out, day after day. No one ever listens to Paul, though--until the family moves to Tangerine. In Tangerine, even a blind, geeky, alien freak can become cool. Who knows? Paul might even become a hero! Edward Bloor's debut novel sparkles with wit, authenticity, unexpected plot twists, and heart. The writing is so fine, the story so triumphant, that you just might stand up and shout when you get to the end. Hooray!
T.J.'s Story : A Book About a Boy Who Is Blind (Meeting the
Challenge)
by Arlene Schulman
Reading level: Ages 4-8. Library Binding - 32 pages (February
1998) Lerner Publications Company.
No review available at this time. 500,000 copies sold.
Wild Horse Summer
by Hope Ryden, Paul Casale (Illustrator), Payl
Casale (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 9-12. Hardcover - 154 pages (November 1997)
Clarion Books. Other Editions:
Paperback.
Alison doesn't really want to spend the summer she turns 13 on a ranch in Wyoming with her cousin Kelly, who is blind. First of all, Alison believes she'll be expected to spend the whole summer leading Kelly around. Second, Alison is afraid of heights, and a horse looks pretty high to her. Kelly turns out to be remarkably independent, especially when she's riding her mustang, Cookie, and she ends up guiding Alison, who feels woefully timid and untrained around the hardworking ranch family.
The Window
by Jeanette Ingold
Reading level: Young Adult. Paperback - 181 pages (October 1996)
Harcourt Brace.
Blinded by the car accident that ended her beloved mother's life, Mandy is offered a home by strange relatives and decides to attend the local high school with seeing children while coming to terms with what has happened.
The World at Her Fingertips: The Story of Helen Keller
by Joan Dash
Reading Level: Gr. 4-7. Paperback (August 2002) Scholastic Paperbacks.
Dash begins her account of Helen Keller's life with the fever that left the child blind and deaf at the age of 19 months. Keller's story would be extraordinary in any telling, but Dash's straightforward account seems closer to reality than the more idealized stories sometimes offered to children. Keller emerges here not as a symbol or an inspiration, but as a determined, sometimes obstinate woman who was extraordinarily dependent on others in some ways, despite her personal drive toward independence. For example, financial need led her to accept Andrew Carnegie's offer of a pension for life, which Keller had initially refused because of her socialist principles. Illustrated with photographs, this well-researched biography will find a place in many libraries.
The Young Unicorns
by Madeleine L'Engle
Reading level: Ages 9-12 Paperback - 285 pages Reissue edition
(November 1, 1989) Laurel Leaf
Library.
The Austins, an extremely naive family, lived a perfectly normal life until they move to New York City so Dr. Austin could work in a laboratory. While they are there, they meet and become good friends with their neighbor, Emily Gregory, a blind girl. One day, while walking home from school, the Austin children, Emily, and Dave (a friend of Emily's)meet a mysterious modern-day genie. From that day on, many strange, curious people enter the Austins lives, endangering them all, and throwing them in a whirwind of trouble, mystery, and confusion. In short, The Young Unicorns is a truly moving account of friends, both old and new, trustworhty and deceitful.