Fifty years before Helen Keller was born, Laura Bridgman faced the challenges of being deaf and blind with determination. She learned to communicate, to read and write, and became world famous for her capabilities and perseverance. Source Notes, Bibliography, Websites, Index.

Before picking up this book I only knew of Helen Keller as being a influential person that is blind and deaf. Laura Bridgeman grew up under similar circumstances. She was a sickly child and suffered a fever that killed almost all of her five senses. Without being able to see or hear she adapted by learning sign language and braille. I was curios as to how blind people communicated through sign language but the book gave details about her learning. The book was also filled with accomplishments of hers. This could be a great book for somebody that may feel doubtful of their abilities to be successful due to disabilities. ( )

Laura Bridgman lost her sight and hearing at the age of 2. She was curious and frustrated lost in herself. Dr. Samuel Howe heard of her and came to see if he could help her. He took her back to the Perkins Institute where he taught her to read and write. He taught her fingerspelling and reading by raised letters. She became the teacher of Anne Sullivan who came to the Perkins Institute before she went on to become Helen Keller's teacher.

I got immersed in this story. I learned a lot. I never knew about her nor what was done for those who had disabilities in the past except that they were kept locked away by their families. Laura's family did not do that but they could not teach her themselves as they had a farm to run and other children to take care of. When Dr. Howe came and said he could help her they took her to the school where he was director. Because she was only 8 she was able to learn manual fingerspelling and reading by feeling raised letters. Older students were not as successful as Laura. When she became an adult she remained in the school and helped wherever she was needed. She also had learned to knit, arithmetic, and to take care of herself. She was curious and did not lose that curiosity. She paved the way for reform in how those with disabilities were treated.

The end of the book tells of the advances made from Laura's time in the mid-1800's to today. This is a fascinating read that pulled me in from the first page. It will remain on my keeper shelf. ( )

Information/Nonfiction Book Review Assignment

Editor and/or Author: __Sally Hobart Alexander and Robert Alexander _________________________________________________________
Illustrator when noted: _ Book Title: She Touched The World: Laura Bridgman Deaf Blind Pioneer _
Publisher:_Clarion Books_______ Copyright Date: 2008

Read a nonfiction book from an author from my ‘Star Author’ list (in Bibliographies) or one of the Orbis Pictus winners, honors or recommended (in Bibliographies) or Sibert award winners or honor books (ALA online award site). If you read a nonfiction book that is over 70 pages, it will count as two books for your journal.

Guidelines for Informational Books –

1. State the author’s purpose in writing the book. Sometimes authors state their purpose in the preface or the first chapter. When they do not, you may arrive at an understanding of the book’s purpose by asking yourself these questions: Why did the author write on this subject rather than on some other subject? Does the author reveal an enthusiasm and wonder in the subject? Does the author stimulate further curiosity about to this subject?
The author’s dedicate the book to “all those who live gracefully with disability”. The introduction of the book informs the reader that while we may not know the name Laura Bridgman during her time she was famous and revered by children. The authors told the story to let us know of another person who overcame great challenges to learn to live and function in this world.

2. Was the author trying to give information about the natural and historical world, to explain something technical, to convince the reader of a belief’s validity by dramatizing it in action?

The authors were trying to tell the historical and captivating story of Laura Bridgman’s life. To tell this story, the authors have to explain different aspects of the time such as what medical treatment was like at the time, what farm life was like at the time and early attempts at Braille. The authors weave major figures of history through their interest and interaction with Laura from Dickens to Helen Keller.

2. Who is the intended audience?

Upper elementary to middle school students could read this book in their classroom. This would make a great read aloud for students as there is much to discuss about the historical time period of the book.

3. What is the author's style? Is it formal or informal? Formal has a more serious tone. It may sound more like a lecture. Informal has a conversational tone. Evaluate the quality of the writing style by using some of the following standards: coherence, clarity, originality, forcefulness, correct use of technical words, conciseness, fullness of development, fluidity. Does it suit the intended audience?

The style of writing is more formal but not overly so. The information is written in a coherent chronological format. The authors seemed to pick interesting information and facts from history to weave into the story. This is a fully developed story that brings the reader into the subject matter while not getting verbose. I think it works for this age level. The introduction that really hooks the reader into why you would care about this historical person shows that they know how to both tell a good story and how to engage children with a good story.

4. What is the text structure? Is it a survey of the topic as in an overview? Surveys often have nouns in their title. Overviews/surveys are expository in their structure. There are topics and subtopics. Some nonfiction is narrative. It tells a story. Most nonfiction picture books and biographies do this. Is the writing expository or narrative?

This is narrative survey book about the life of Laura Bridges. It switches off in tone throughout the book. When giving background of the time, the writing is more expository. When it switches to Laura it utilizes her quotes to describe how she was feeling and what she was thinking at the time.

6. Scan the Table of Contents, it can help understand how the book is organized and will aid in determining the author's main ideas and how they are developed - chronologically, topically, etc. Do the same with the index. Check out the index’s organization and are there any other appendixes? (extra information at the end of the book ) There may be a glossary, timeline, author note’s….etc.

The book proceeds chronologically throughout her life. Chapters titles come from the subject of the chapter and usually come from direct sources of the time. For example, the first time she meets her teacher Dr Howe she called him “an unusually tall man”. The title of the chapter is An Unusually Tall Man.

7. Summarize (very briefly) main points and comment on the book’s content. State your general conclusions. Pay particular attention to the author's concluding chapter. Is the summary convincing?

The story tells the life story of Laura Bridgman. It tells of how she was born being able to see and hear but then lost her vision and hearing to scarlet fever. The story then tells of her limited learning before meeting Dr. Howe and how she largely stayed in her house and interacted with her family. Then Dr. Howe met her and wanted to attempt his progressive teaching with her. Laura learned to spell using raised letters and then finger spell. Once she could interact she wanted to interact constantly. She became very close to her teachers who were the ones who could largely communicate with her.

Dr. Howe as director of the School of the Blind would present his students to the legislature yearly as a matter of validating his funding. News of Laura’s abilities took off and she would have visitors on a daily basis. Laura then became famous and people knew of her all over the country and into Europe. She was considered the most famous American and only less known then Queen of England. Dickens visited her and included her in his writing of American Notes. Helen Keller’s mom read the book and realized that there was hope for her daughter. Charles Darwin wrote about her in one of his books. Laura lived and helped other blind students at the School for the Blind until she died in 1889.

The afterword of the book discusses how the author is blind and partially deaf. She discusses what that means today and the various changes since Laura’s time in terms of laws, medicine, attitudes and technology. The summary makes you realize that while Laura’s life serves as an inspiration to us all, for people with similar experiences she serves as a model and someone to aspire to.

8. How did the book affect you? Why did you choose it? Were any previous ideas you had on the subject changed, abandoned, or reinforced due to this book? How is the book related to your own course or personal agenda? What personal experiences you've had relate to the subject?

As a Special Education teacher for 10 years, I was amazed the lack of people with altered abilities in books, movies and media. Many of my students saw their learning differences as they were dumb. It often took many examples of the amazing feats achieved by people with unending perseverance and tenacity. When I saw this book I was instantly intrigued. I wanted to read it and see if it would be a good read aloud for all grades. The engaging historical snippets make it great for this purpose. Now as a Title teacher I have numerous students who face constant challenges due to issues related to abuse, addiction and poverty in their family. We all need stories of overcoming the largest challenges to give us hope that we can rise above ours and achieve our dreams.

9. Evaluate the book for interest, accuracy, objectivity, importance, thoroughness, and usefulness to its intended audience. Show whether the author's main arguments are true. Respond to the author's opinions. What do you agree or disagree with? Why? Illustrate whether or not any conclusions drawn are derived logically from the evidence. Does it list a Bibliography? Does it have an author’s note? Does it suggest further resources?

This book is an excellent book in terms of importance of story, information and readability. The story is told in an engaging manner and weaves in lot of historical information. The pictures compliment the text well. The book could be a powerful read aloud for younger students and an independent book for older elementary school students. The book argues that Helen Keller is not the only amazing story of a blind deaf girl learning to function. There is a direct line between Laura and her teacher’s accomplishments and Helen Keller’s later successes. The authors argue that Laura is largely forgotten by history and that she should be taught to students. The book includes a detailed source notes and bibliography. It lists websites to learn more about the subject
10. What appears to be the greatest value of the book? (Illustrations, photos, readability, information)

The greatest value in this book is introducing a wealth of historical information through an engaging story. This books introduces worlds that most students will have little knowledge of.

Response - I had not heard of Laura Bridgman, only Helen Keller. It was interesting to read about the experiences of another girl who also lost her sight and hearing.

Curricular connection - reading group; unit on biographies