In it, Alex tells us what things are hard for him, and what some of his strengths are as well. The illustrations are black and white sketch and are very powerful. The illustration on the 8th page (depending on your edition) makes me teary-eyed every time I see it. It's a picture of Alex curled up in a fetal position underneath his desk at school in utter frustration. I've seen my own "boy" (now 28) in this same position a bunch of times.
My son has several learning disabilities and mental health diagnoses. School was a painful place for him.
Here's one quote from the book. It's too long to include the entire text here. It's targeted for adults trying better to support and understand a child near them with learning differences, and to help grade school kids understand that they are not stupid, they learn differently.
"I stared at my book. Had I ever seen those letters before? The words seemed to jump around the page. Some looked backwards. Nobody made a sound while I tried to figure out what it said.
Then I began to read slowly so I could get every word right. "My hat is on pot of my head," I said. The boy behind me put his head down and started to laugh. Soon the whole class was laughing with him.
"On top, Alex," said Mrs. Potter. "Not on pot."
I will also review another of Jeanne Gehret's books in the future: Eagle Eyes: A Child's Guide to Paying Attention.
No comments:
Post a Comment