A Picture Book of Helen Keller

Explosion 2: BAM By David Adler

Illustrated by John Wallner

Contributor Alexandra Wallner

Think About This

As you grow up, you will need to decide the kind of person you want to be.

One of the ways of doing this is to look at the lives of famous people and read how they handled the problems and challenges of their lives.

Helen Keller was a little girl just like you. When she was a child, there was no protection against measles. She caught the measles and became blind and deaf. For many years, people urged her parents not to let her stay home and to give up on her having a normal life. Her parents found her a teacher, Annie Sullivan, who taught her to speak and to read by first drawing letters on her hand and then by using Braille. Helen went to college and became a strong voice speaking out for the disabled.

About Helen Keller

Helen's early life was portrayed in the book, play, and movie, The Miracle Worker.

If you would like to see some pictures of Helen Keller and learn more about her, go to The Helen Keller Children's Museum online at the following site:

http://www.afb.org/braillebug/hkmuseum.asp

She also has a page devoted to her in the National Women's Hall of Fame at

http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=91

About the Author

Mr. Adler was a math teacher who began to write books for children and found that he loved it so much that he decided to change careers. He writes non-fiction books, books with true facts for children. He particularly likes to write biographies. To find out more about Mr. Adler, you may go to

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr/mtai/adler.html

Fun Activities

Helen learned to use Braille, a system of dots, which allowed her to read books. If you would like to do some fun activities and learn Braille at the same time, go to the following site:

http://www.afb.org/braillebug/default.asp

Would you like to do some activities with American sign language?

Go to the website listed below.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/asl.shtml

Let's Find Out More Information

Our library is a great source of information about the lives of famous people and about character development. If you want to model your behavior after the traits you admire in other people, Barbara Lewis has written a book entitled Being your Best: Character Building for Kids 7-10. This book will give you suggestions of how to become the kind of person you will be proud to be.

Biographies, the story of a person's life, can be found in our library under B. Some additional good books to read are as follows:

Title Author

A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin David Adler

A Picture Book of Thomas Jefferson David Adler

A Picture Book of George Washington David Adler

A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln David Adler

A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart David Adler

A Picture Book of George Washington Carver David Adler

A Picture Book of Davy Crockett David Adler

and our new set of Buddy Books Biographies.

Comments:

If you have any comments or questions, you can reach me at the following address:

North Beverly School

Mrs. J. L. Bloom

Library Teacher

48 Putnam Street

Beverly, Massachusetts 01915