An inspirational story, drawing from the strong will and determination of Louis Braille. Young Louis was blinded when attempting to use his father's leather working tools. An awl went into one eye and the wound got infected. The infection eventually spread to both eyes, blinding young Louis. His family and town were extremely supportive, but the one thing the couldn't provide him were books. Louis's desire to read books was strong but none were available. A noble lady wrote in a request for Louis to attend the Royal School for the Blind. At the age of ten, Louis was accepted. Louis's family loved him and resisted him leaving for a boarding school, but Louis's will was strong and his family let him go. Louis discovered that the books at the school used raised letters. The books were large, cumbersome, and extremely abbreviated. One sentence took most of a page! Louis felt he needed something more efficient and faster to read. Introduced to a code system of raised dots invented for the military, Louis soon learned the system, but it too was cumbersome. Spending a full year experimenting, with hundreds of attempts, Louis finally developed a simple raised dot system that only used a combination of six dots!
An accessible story for the younger students, but one that all will appreciate. A true example of how 'need is the mother of invention" and how failure, time and determination can lead to success.
Mark's Book Picks Score: Non-Fiction
Dewey: 921 • Reading Level: 3.3 • Interest Level: K-3 • AR Points: 0.5 • Lexile Level: 590 • Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf • Pages: 40 • Copyright: 2016 • ISBN: 978-0-449-81337-9 • Available in Perma-Bound Binding
CYRM 2020/21 Nominee, Picture Books for Older Readers
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