Helen Keller (Scholastic Biography)

Book Description

The bestselling biography of Helen Keller and how, with the commitment and lifelong friendship of Anne Sullivan, she learned to talk, read, and eventually graduate from college with honors.

Customer Reviews:

Huffy.......2006-01-14

I thank Hellen Keller is good for kids of all ages.MY favorite
part was when she hit Anny Sullivan. My mom has a sister who is blind.And she had to learn to do alot of things also.Do you know
she has a long red stick. I feelsory for my ant and Hellen keller.

First Chapter Book.......2004-06-15

This is the first chapter book I ever read. I am now 13 year olds and when I was in 1st grade I learned to read. In first grade I read this book and was hooked on reading forever after that. So thank you to the author!
This book has 95 pages in it, I remember it seemed so long then!

Two generations loved this book.......2003-06-18

My 8 year old just finished this book and was fascinated. I realized as I looked through it that I read it as a child and loved it too (as an 11 year old). My daughter is now eager to learn more about Braille and the consequences of being blind--though I had to ask her not to walk through the kitchen with her eyes closed. She loved the photos and can't wait to read about Annie Sullivan. A great book to show the triumph of the human spirit over adversity--and without pity!

Helen Keller.......2003-05-02

I didn't really like Helen Keller. My favorite part is when Helen got her diploma because she was the first blind and deaf to graduate. I don't know how you can chan it was her life.I read it because it was a asiment.

An Inspiration to Young Girls.......2002-10-22

Helen Keller is a book from my youth that I have hung onto all these years. Helen's story, beautifully told by Margaret Davidson, is an inspiration to all girls because each will face challenges at some point that will seem insurmountable. Here's a girl who had lost three senses yet learned to function in the world so well that she graduated college with honors.

Book Description

NO ONE COULD REACH HER

Twelve-year-old Helen Keller lived in a prison of silence and darkness. Born deaf, blind, and mute, with no way to express herself or comprehend those around her, she flew into primal rages against anyone who tried to help her, fighting tooth and nail with a strength born of furious, unknowing desperation.

Then Annie Sullivan came. Half-blind herself, but possessing an almost fanatical determination, she would begin a frightening and incredibly moving struggle to tame the wild girl no one could reach, and bring Helen into the world at last....

Customer Reviews:

Thank you.......2007-03-23

Thank you very much/ this item was in perfect condition when I got it, it was received in a very timely matter, this was one of my favorite stories when I was little and I am glad to have it!
Thank you

The miracle worker.......2006-02-28

I chose this book "The miracle worker" because I knew it was going to be about the adventure of Helen Keller and the way she learned to communicate with her hands because she was blind and deaf. My feelings about the story after I read it was that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything. Yes, this book was what I thought it would be. I felt the same way about the book after I read it. My feelings didn't change because it turned out the way that I expected.

This story is about a teacher who had one of the same problems as the child she was teaching so she knew what her student was going through. The teacher and the child become the worst of enemies but then realize how much they really care about each other. They go through rough times but at the end everything falls into place. It is a true story of Helen Keller and Annie. The parents go through a difficult time watching the teacher, Annie, teach Helen as if she were a regular child. They think that the teacher is not a very good teacher. In the beginning, they want Annie to leave but later on they see that Annie is going to be the one who gets through to Helen.

Two reasons why I like this book is because it shows that anything is possible if you try hard enough and that you can get through to the most stubborn person in the world.

I think that this book is for the age of twelve years old and up. I chose twelve years old and up because you need to be able to understand what you're reading. Twelve year olds also have a good variety of vocabulary. So I suggest that you read this book because it will give you a great feeling inside!

I would give this book a five out of five rating because it is a very good book!!!

This book is about a girl who finds herself with the help of a teacher, everyone should read this book and I promise you that you will not waste your time!!!

good book.......2006-02-26

This is a very good book about the truth of a little who is in bad shape and then made it throuth with help. And parents who are willing to give for their little girl who is having a hard time and can't see or hear and speak.

You !#$!@#$!@#s!.......2005-12-06

Before I start the unpleasentries, I would just like to state that I enjoy reading this play, and am currently reading it again for my High School English class. Now, on with the beatings . . .
You idots! Going on about "CyberPunk" and all that crapola!!!
If you had any shred of brains in those empty heads of yours, you would have checked to see if this was in fact a "CyberPunk" book. I highly doubt that you've never heard of this play before, and I charge you not to scoff at others who enjoy this sort of literature! If you really don't like it, then say so, instead of comparing to some "CyberPunk" book. If you have read the book and honestly don't like it, then my humble apollogizes for my ranting.
~An Appalled 14 Year Old BiP

"She knows!".......2005-06-06

William Gibson's "The Miracle Worker" is as poignant and powerful today as it was back in 1957, when it was first performed on "Playhouse 90." Annie Sullivan is an "inexperienced half-blind Yankee schoolgirl" who attempts to reach seven-year-old Helen Keller, a child who became deaf and blind as a result of a childhood illness. Helen's father, Captain Keller, is a southern gentleman who is used to being obeyed. However, even he stands helplessly by in the face of Helen's violent and disruptive outbursts. Mrs. Keller, Helen's mother, is a sweet and loving person who pities Helen, and by giving in to her every whim, she helps turn her daughter into a demanding tyrant.

Annie Sullivan is only twenty when she comes to Alabama to become Helen's teacher. Annie had been blind herself, and although numerous operations on her eyes have restored some of her sight, her eyes remain weak and sensitive to light. Annie is appalled when she meets her volatile and undisciplined charge. The teacher sets out to civilize Helen by instructing her to eat from her own plate with utensils rather than grab food from everyone else's plate with her hands. This leads to an angry confrontation between teacher and student, which leaves both of them emotionally and physically drained. William Gibson's five page long stage directions describe in great detail this pitched battle between these two stubborn individuals. After this harrowing encounter, Annie realizes that only by separating Helen from her indulgent family can she ever hope to tame this brilliant but willful youngster.

"The Miracle Worker" is a beautifully constructed and concise play. Each act builds in intensity until the climactic scene when Helen associates the water that pours over her hands with the letters that Annie is constantly spelling into her palm. However, this drama is more than a heartwarming story about a dedicated teacher and her out-of-control student. It is a story about a family divided against itself. Captain Keller is an overbearing husband and father, Mrs. Keller is a mother in denial, and Helen's half-brother, James, never gets enough positive attention from his parents.

Gibson injects welcome humor into the play, as when Annie proclaims, "What good will your pity do her [Helen] when you're under the strawberries, Captain Keller?" In addition, Annie criticizes the family for treating Helen like a pet, adding sardonically, "Why, even a dog you housebreak." Some of the most resonant lines in "The Miracle Worker" deal with the importance of communication. Annie wisely observes, "Language is to the mind more than light is to the eye." If Helen is to ever function as an adult, she will need to learn sign language. To accomplish this, Annie seeks a breakthrough that will enable her to bring Helen's spirited soul out of the darkness of her isolation. When Annie drags Helen to a water pump to refill a pitcher she had dropped, Helen says, "Wah. Wah," remembering the word for water from babyhood. After the realization dawns on Helen that words stand for objects, Annie senses that, in the future, there will be no stopping this bright young woman from soaring as far as her lively mind will take her.

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Other Books
Sightless and unable to hear, but hardly mute.
A continuous page-turner
The Story of My Life
A Classic

The Story of My Life (Bantam Classic)
Helen Keller
Manufacturer: Bantam Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0553213873
Release Date: 1990-05-01

Amazon.com

Helen Keller would not be bound by conditions. Rendered deaf and blind at 19 months by scarlet fever, she learned to read (in several languages) and even speak, eventually graduating with honors from Radcliffe College in 1904, where as a student she wrote The Story of My Life. That she accomplished all of this in an age when few women attended college and the disabled were often relegated to the background, spoken of only in hushed tones, is remarkable. But Keller's many other achievements are impressive by any standard: she authored 13 books, wrote countless articles, and devoted her life to social reform. An active and effective suffragist, pacifist, and socialist (the latter association earned her an FBI file), she lectured on behalf of disabled people everywhere. She also helped start several foundations that continue to improve the lives of the deaf and blind around the world.

As a young girl Keller was obstinate, prone to fits of violence, and seething with rage at her inability to express herself. But at the age of 7 this wild child was transformed when, at the urging of Alexander Graham Bell, Anne Sullivan became her teacher, an event she declares "the most important day I remember in all my life." (Sullivan herself had once been blind, but partially recovered her sight after a series of operations.) In a memorable passage, Keller writes of the day "Teacher" led her to a stream and repeatedly spelled out the letters w-a-t-e-r on one of her hands while pouring water over the other. This method proved a revelation: "That living world awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away." And, indeed, most of them were.

In her lovingly crafted and deeply perceptive autobiography, Keller's joyous spirit is most vividly expressed in her connection to nature:

Indeed, everything that could hum, or buzz, or sing, or bloom, had a part in my education.... Few know what joy it is to feel the roses pressing softly into the hand, or the beautiful motion of the lilies as they sway in the morning breeze. Sometimes I caught an insect in the flower I was plucking, and I felt the faint noise of a pair of wings rubbed together in a sudden terror....

The idea of feeling rather than hearing a sound, or of admiring a flower's motion rather than its color, evokes a strong visceral sensation in the reader, giving The Story of My Life a subtle power and beauty. Keller's celebration of discovery becomes our own. In the end, this blind and deaf woman succeeds in sharpening our eyes and ears to the beauty of the world. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

An American classic rediscovered by each generation, The Story of My Life is Helen Keller’s account of her triumph over deafness and blindness. Popularized by the stage play and movie The Miracle Worker, Keller’s story has become a symbol of hope for people all over the world.

This book–published when Keller was only twenty-two–portrays the wild child who is locked in the dark and silent prison of her own body. With an extraordinary immediacy, Keller reveals her frustrations and rage, and takes the reader on the unforgettable journey of her education and breakthroughs into the world of communication. From the moment Keller recognizes the word “water” when her teacher finger-spells the letters, we share her triumph as “that living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!” An unparalleled chronicle of courage, The Story of My Life remains startlingly fresh and vital more than a century after its first publication, a timeless testament to an indomitable will.

Download Description

I recall my surprise on discovering that a mysterious hand had stripped the trees and bushes, leaving only here and there a wrinkled leaf. The birds had flown, and their empty nests in the bare trees were filled with snow. Winter was on hill and field. The earth seemed benumbed by his icy touch, and the very spirits of the trees had withdrawn to their roots, and there, curled up in the dark, lay fast asleep. All life seemed to have ebbed away, and even when the sun shone the day was.

Customer Reviews:

Other Books.......2007-09-03

A deaf dumb and blind girl, but no pinball. Helen Keller, bereft of the senses that your average person is able to utilise, has to learn other ways to communicate. She is instrumental in forming systems that will lay the foundation to enable other people so afflicted to do the same, with the work she does herself, and with her tutors.

Well worth a look.

Sightless and unable to hear, but hardly mute........2007-05-20

Helen Keller gives a sweetly innocent rundown of her life in this brief book. It's just enough to get a glimpse into her well publicized transformation into a girl lost in her own inability to communicate to a wonderfully prolific soul; a person who changed the world. She is disarming and self aware and isn't afraid to gloss over a little bit of the struggle to paint a journey of searching that led to many rivers of experience. It's a charming book and if one is curious about Helen Keller it is best to 'hear' the words from the author than another source.

A continuous page-turner.......2007-04-18

The Story Of My Life was a life-changing book for me. The reason for this is because I never thought that a person who had no power could do so much and have so much of it. As soon as I read this book it made me feel that no matter how small you are you can accomplish your dreams and goals. My opinion about this book is that it taught me that even if you are disabled, like Helen Keller you can still do many things. I think what Helen Keller did was outstanding because even though she was blind, deaf, and only a kid she did some indescribable things. I think this book will be a page-turner for people in middle school and up. This has inspired me to do anything and believe that I can accomplish many goals that I have.

The Story of My Life .......2006-12-15

"Helen, you are charged with plagiarism of a whole book. Your sentence is to never see Miss Sullivan again." The Story of My Life is an autobiography by Helen Keller. Helen Keller was a blind and deaf girl who came over all these odds by learning how to read lips with her fingers, how to speak, how to read Braille, and understand things like a normal child. Her teacher throughout her life was Miss Sullivan. She taught Helen Keller just about everything she could when it came to communicating. Because of how she overcame her handicaps, many people, including celebrities, wanted to meet her and have her as a friend. I recommend this book if you like learning about amazing people.

Helen Keller wrote this book on her own. If you can think about how hard it would be to write a book when you are deaf and blind, then you will be amazed at how she did this. She wrote a book in her early childhood, but apparently it was read to her when she was younger and it was very close to the same thing, so the institution she was going to accused her of plagiarism. She could not see Miss Sullivan again as long as Miss Sullivan worked for the institution. So, Miss Sullivan quit her job and moved in with Helen and her family and taught her until she was older.

Helen Keller got to do many things a normal child would not. She got to travel the world with Miss Sullivan because everybody wanted to meet her and celebrities would pay to fly her out to where they lived. She also had to go to the institution for the deaf and blind, which was far away. Many people there were also amazed at how Miss Sullivan had taught Helen to communicate.

If you read this book, also note how many things Miss Sullivan taught Helen. Miss Sullivan taught Helen how to communicate with everybody. Even though Helen has been deaf since she was 3 months old, she learned how to pronounce words so she could talk to people. The hardest thing was probably to teach her to read Braille, which would have been hard because she would not understand the letters at first and what they meant.

Helen Keller is one amazing person. She overcame two very harsh defects, being blind and deaf. Any person having just one of those defects may never overcome these illnesses but she did. She not only overcame them she was taught how to communicate even though it was along and struggling process. Helen Keller is an amazing person and you should read the book she wrote.

-Jaycee Elliott

A Classic.......2006-07-21

Of course this book is a classic. It is Helen Keller in her own words. It is well written and interesting to be "there" as she developes and learns. If you haven't read the book yet, I recommend you do. I "read" the book as a book on tape. Email:boland7214@aol.

Average customer rating:

soiled pages
Nice book
Helen Keller
Helen Keller Crusader of the Blind and Deaf
Helen Kellen

Helen Keller (Young Yearling Book)
Stewart Graff , and Polly Anne Graff
Manufacturer: Yearling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0440404398
Release Date: 1991-03-01

Book Description

From the age of a year and a half, Helen Keller could not hear. She could not see, and she did not speak. She lived in a dark and lonely world--until Annie Sullivan came to teach her. Annie traced letters and words in Helen's hand, and made Helen realize she could "talk" to people. Eager to make up for lost time, Helen threw herself into her studies. She decided to teach others about the special training deaf and blind children need. Helen traveled all over the globe and raised money to start up schools for deaf and blind children. Her courage and her determination to help others conquer the odds against them earned her the respect and admiration of the world.

Customer Reviews:

soiled pages.......2007-01-14

Recently I visited my grand daughter and saw the above mentioned book that
I purchased some time ago to help her with a report she was working on.Many of the pages were soiled. This is the first book that I ordered from you that arrived in this condition.

Nice book.......2004-12-25

This book is very nice, I like how the illustrator drew the pictures.

Helen Keller.......2002-05-10

Helen Keller is about a girl who was blind and deaf when they wanted to talk to her they made sign language on her palm of her hand. She could talk but when Helen's perents died she decided to not talk because she din't wanted to talk about her parents. This book also relates with Stewart and Polly Anne. They wrote this book when she made her self to be blind and deaf she got that sickness.

The message is Helen Keller did not have friends because she could'nt talk or hear then she wanted to play but she could'nt because her friends said no because you are blind and deaf but Helen learned how to spell ground, water, and even her name, she learned how to see stuff and thats how she learned how to do stuff at last her friends wanted to play and talk with her.

My Opinion was bad because when she was 10 years old she was blind and deaf but sometimes I felt good because when she could spell a lot of stuff she was getting like a regular kid. I reccomend this book to all the kids if you guys read this book you would like it and you guys could recomended to other kids you want,if you guys like this book I recomend you to buy it and read it all the time you guys want but shows it with the author that says Stewart and Polly Anne I recomend it to you don't forget you would like it.

Helen Keller Crusader of the Blind and Deaf.......2002-05-10

...I think Stewart and Polly Anne Graff the author of Helen Keller Crusader of the Blind and Deaf made a good book about her life. This book is about a girl that is deaf and blind after a month of her birth, she gets help from a lady that help's her understand word's. The book also talks about her life and how she succeeded in her life.

I think that the message of this book, is no matter if there's something wrong with you, like you're blindness or deafness you could still succeeded in life no matter what. Helen Keller tells the same problem to the soldiers who get out of war. It also says to never give up.

This is a very good book and I liked it a lot. I hope I could read it again. I really do recommend this book to people of all ages. If it was possible I would like to meet her and thank her for everything.

Helen Kellen.......2002-05-10

The story is about a girl that is disabould. One day she got very mad at everybody. That she started it hit her little sister. And her mother and father. So her perents decided to call a special teacher. To help her get through all this anger. So the teacher that help Helen was Annie.

Is not given up on disabould kids. Because just how Helen got through all of this she made is too. Where she could talk a couple of wards. That us people that are not disabould . Can say like water,spone. So think that's the theme.

What I like about this book is that. It shows lots of love and care. I recommend this book to the whole world. Because it is a very good book to the disabould kids. Like Helen Keller. You can learn alot by this book.

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Light in My Darkness

I could not wait to get done.

Touching Story, Stunning Ideas

Beautiful!

Wonderfully informative, inspiring reading.

Light in My Darkness
Helen Keller
Manufacturer: Chrysalis Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Story of My Life (Bantam Classic)

The World I Live In (New York Review Books Classics)

Optimism

Heaven and Hell

To Love This Life, Quotations by Helen Keller

ASIN: 0877853983

Book Description

Helen Keller, Time Magazine's woman of the century, reveals her mystical side in this best-selling spiritual autobiography. Writing that her first reading of Emanuel Swedenborg at age fourteen gave her truths that were “to my faculties what light, color and music are to the eye and ear,” she explains how Swedenborg's works sustained her throughout her life.

This new edition includes a foreword by Dorothy Herrmann, author of the acclaimed Helen Keller: A Life, and a new chapter, “Epilogue: My Luminous Universe.”

Customer Reviews:

Light in My Darkness.......2006-12-15

Helen Keller was born June 27,1980 in Tuscumbia Alabama. Her father was an officer for the Confederate army and her mother was a wife. Keller wasn't born deaf and blind that started once she got older. She was about 14 months olds when she started the Perkins School for the Blind.As she grew older she moved to New York to attend Wright Humason School for the deaf. She went to Radcliff college in 1900 and graduated four years later. She died June 1, 1958 in Eastern Conneticut.
Raven C

I could not wait to get done........2005-03-27

I have always been very impressed with the life of Helen Keller. The difficulties she overcame in life were phenomenal. This book, however, was not interesting to me in the least. I am sad to hear about how she moved away from her traditional Christian background and followed the false teachings of Swedenborg. The book is more about Swedenborg than it is about Helen. It is a strong promotion of Swedenborg's New Church. She claims that he had a special ability from God to find the truth in scripture. The problem is, he like all other cult founders, only takes portions of scripture and uses them out of context. He claimed to have special revelations that no one else ever did. Beware of anyone who makes such claims. According to the book, Helen was pretty silent on her beliefs for the last thirty eight years of her life. I hope she was silent out of her realization that Swedenborg is not master of the truth, but Jesus is the truth instead. I do not recommend you use your time reading this book. It can be spent much more wisely.

Touching Story, Stunning Ideas.......2003-05-10

This book was not only touching because of Helen Keller's fascinating story, but also an uplifting reassurance that life is worth living. Her ideas, those from and about Emanuel Swedenborg, strike me as poingantly true. Helen Keller's unique perspective on the world adds an amazing depth and reality to this work. I absolutly reccomend it for anyone and everyone.

Beautiful!.......2000-09-08

I really enjoyed reading this book. It made me look again at what I believe and see it more clearly. This is a great introduction to the ideas of Emanual Swedenborg and the New Church.

Wonderfully informative, inspiring reading........2000-06-06

The newly revised and updated second edition of Helen Keller's autobiography originally published in 1927 includes a substantial foreword by Keller biographer Dorothy Herrmann. The deaf, dumb and blind Helen Keller (1880-1968) became an internationally known spokesperson for the blind. Her amazing story of being taught to communicate by Annie Sullivan is very well know. But what is not so well known Keller's faith in the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg whose spiritual vision gave her "the light in my darkness, the voice in my silence". Light In My Darkness is wonderfully informative and inspiring reading and this splendid edition will re-introduce a most remarkable woman to a whole new generation of readers.

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Biographies for Beginners
Excellent for upper elementary students
Great subject for a children book.

Who Was Helen Keller? (Who Was...?)
Gare Thompson
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0448431440

Book Description

At age two, Helen Keller became deaf and blind. She lived in a world of silence and darkness and she spent the rest of her life struggling to break through it. But with the help of teacher Annie Sullivan, Helen learned to read, write, and do many amazing things. This inspiring illustrated biography is perfect for young middle-grade readers. Black-and-white line drawings throughout, sidebars on related topics such as Louis Braille, a timeline, and a bibliography enhance readers' understanding of the subject.

Illustrated by John O'Brien.

Customer Reviews:

Biographies for Beginners.......2007-08-08

Wonderful introduction to biographies for the early reader set (6-10 yrs old, depending on reading ability). It provides enough info to be useful, but not so much that the child is bogged down and loses interest. The series is fabulous.

Excellent for upper elementary students.......2007-05-13

As a teacher of fourth grade, I have found this series to be indispensable when it comes to having my students create their biography pizzas. The information is presented in an easy to read format and contains pictures throughout. When I think back to my days in school, I always found biography books dry and dull. The authors of this series manage to present the information in an engaging manner. I often have children who read more in the series after their project is finished.

Great subject for a children book........2007-03-25

Great subject for a children book. I got this series of books for my daughter and she really enjoyes reading them. Great read and educational too.

The World I Live In (New York Review Books Classics)

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Her world without sight and sound.
Wonderfully touching

The World I Live In (New York Review Books Classics)
Helen Keller
Manufacturer: NYRB Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1590170679
Release Date: 2004-01-31

Book Description

Out of print for nearly a century, The World I Live In is Helen Keller's most personal and intellectually adventurous work—one that transforms our appreciation of her extraordinary achievements. Here this preternaturally gifted deaf and blind young woman closely describes her sensations and the workings of her imagination, while making the pro-vocative argument that the whole spectrum of the senses lies open to her through the medium of language. Standing in the line of the works of Emerson and Thoreau, The World I Live In is a profoundly suggestive exercise in self-invention, and a true, rediscovered classic of American literature.

This new edition of The World I Live In also includes Helen Keller's early essay "Optimism," as well as her first published work, "My Story," written when she was twelve.

Customer Reviews:

Her world without sight and sound........2007-03-27

She tries to help you understand the reality of her life. It is much more than you can imagine.

Wonderfully touching.......2004-11-06

What beautiful writing! It's pointed out in the intro that, more than most of us, her world was shaped with WORDS. I've only read about four essays so far, and am profoundly touched. I've always admired Helen Keller, but am newly re-impressed with her wisdom and vision, and touched that she can write so clearly as to make me feel how little she felt limited by her handicap. If Helen Keller had simply learned to behave and ask politely for her food, etc, it would have been an impressive accomplishment. The fact that she grew to fully embrace her intelligence, her world and her potential . . . wow. I know so many people who are content to just do the bare minimum, to not stretch their limits at all, to not show any intellectual curiosity . . . she had the perfect excuse to exert the least effort, yet she didn't. Once she was given the key, the entree to humanity, she didn't let her handicaps stop her. I love that even all these years later, she is still able to share that.

Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark (Step-Into-Reading, Step 4)

Average customer rating:

Excellent Book for Beginning Reader
The brave deaf and blind girl
so-so story about a great woman
A Shameful Book!
Excellent Book!

Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark (Step-Into-Reading, Step 4)
Johanna Hurwitz
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679877053
Release Date: 1997-11-11

Book Description

When a childhood illness leaves her blind and deaf, Helen Keller's life seems hopeless indeed. But her indomitable will and the help of a devoted teacher empower Helen to triumph over incredible adversity. This amazing true story is finally brought to the beginner reader level.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Book for Beginning Reader.......2006-06-11

Because of my husband's work, we have unfortunately had to move around quite a bit. I was looking for English books for my 8 year old that would be at her reading level yet would be engaging. This fit the bill.
My daughter eagerly read the book (and has read it several times now) and has begun to ask me many questions about Helen Keller, braille, blindness and deafness, etc. Marvellous! I was quite pleased with the results.
I did not purchase this book as an historical treatise and so did not expect it to go at length into Helen Keller's life. But my daughter could relate to the story of a young girl who is presented with tremendous challenges and not only overcomes but succeeds in living a fruitful, rewarding and exemplary life. Because it is written in a "chewable" English, she didn't give up on the book. I found this book to be very positive.
The "Step Into Reading" series on the whole I found to be very good. Historical topics tend to be chosen rather than "fairy" stories for content. The writing style is challenging but not out-of-reach. And the books are engaging.
I do not hesitate to recommend this book for 6 - 8 year olds. Encouraging girls to read about positive female role models - - I do think Helen Keller would approve.

The brave deaf and blind girl.......2004-06-04

It was about a girl name Helen Keller. She was born on June,27 1880. She lived on a farm in Alabama. But one day she had a high fever and cause her to go blind and deaf. Her parents couldn't tell if she was hungry,tried, or thrist. When she wake up in the middle of the night she thought it was moring and cryed for her breakfast. Finally her parents ask for help then this young lady ask name Anne Sullivan. Anne was once almost blind but she had several operations to help her see again. At first Helen gave her problems. Whatever Helen did to Anne she would do the same to her. Later Helen learned to listen to Anne. She also learned how to do sign language to deaf people or people that can see and hear. Helen's parents were very proud of her because she learned how to do many things that a person like her couldn't do. Helen later went to college and became famous. Then she passed away before eieght-first birthday.

I recommend this book because it tells about how a girl can do something with her life even though she's blind.

so-so story about a great woman.......2004-01-05

Any information children get about Helen Keller is probably better than none. The title Courage in the Dark, is oh so cliche. If she was only blind, she wouldn't have been so well known. Blindness only cut her off from objects, it was her deafness that isolated her from communication. The combination of being blind and deaf defined challenges for her. The book gives the play-by-play about her life with little details. She earned a college degree reading fingerspelling into her palm. This was a period few when women even went to college. An enormous deal should have been made about her never giving up. There are probably better books about Helen Keller and I would encourage anyone to learn more about Deaf Culture. It is quite amazing how they fought for the same rights everyone else had. If you are looking for information on people like Helen Keller, try the deaf-blind lions club in your area.

A Shameful Book!.......2002-10-13

The authors and publishers should be ashamed. Helen Kellers's life was NOT simply filled with "silence and darkness", as the authors write. She was a fighter for women's rights, including the right to vote. She denounced the murder of coal miners by John D. Rockefeller. She helped found the American Civil Liberties Union. She worked tirelessly for peace. She lived a long, full NOISY 88 years.

This book reduces her to a permanent teenager, and an image on a postage stamp. This book misinforms young people, and gives them a ridiculous idea of what Helen Keller was really all about.

Excellent Book!.......2002-07-04

I first read this book to my daughter when she was 5 years old, and she has been fascinated with Helen Keller ever since. We have read and reread this book numerous times, and she never loses interest. This led to buying other Helen Keller books and an interest in learning sign language. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a young child. It's a great book for getting a child interested in true stories/biographies!

Girl Named Helen Keller, A (level 3) (Hello Reader)

Average customer rating:

A Girl Named Helen Keller
Sad but good (from an 8-year-old)
Nice way to first hear the Helen Keller story
Helen Keller!

Girl Named Helen Keller, A (level 3) (Hello Reader)
Margo Lundell
Manufacturer: Cartwheel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0590479636

Customer Reviews:

A Girl Named Helen Keller.......2005-04-28

This is a great book ! It's about a facinating young girl that got ill when she was a baby.Helen lost her sight and hearing, and went on a heartwarming adventure with a young teacher ,you can buy this amazing book on amazon . com !

Sad but good (from an 8-year-old).......2001-06-06

I like this book because it's a true story that happened 100 years ago. It's a sad story because Helen Keller was blind and deaf. It's a good story because after a while she understood what she was doing and she learned how to write on a typewriter.

Nice way to first hear the Helen Keller story.......2000-10-20

This is an easy to read book (grades 1 & 2) and a wonderful tool for introducing children to Helen Keller. It tells about her struggles after becoming deaf and blind, and of her eventual triumph of learning words with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan. It also gives a very brief summary of her accomplishments as an adult.

I think it's great for kids to learn about Helen Keller, and this book provides a nice way to first hear the story.

The last page of the book has a sign language alphabet chart which some children might enjoy trying to learn...

Helen Keller!.......2000-10-16

Helen Keller is just like Laura Bridgman.They both had Scarlet Fever.But Laura Bridgman had it before Helen Keller.This book tells you about a real girl name Helen Keller.Helen Keller had Scarlet Fever when she was two years old.She was blind,mute and deaf after this sickness.Helen was crazy.She was jumping around braking things and she even hurted her little baby brother! Then Helen's parents called for help.This lady came.She was blind also.But she helped Helen to learn sign language and knowing what are the things she touched.It was really hard teaching Helen all the manners and everything.But at the end Helen was like another ordinary girl.

Helen Keller: A photographic story of a life (DK Biography)

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Traversing a Dark Valley

Helen Keller: A photographic story of a life (DK Biography)
Leslie Garrett
Manufacturer: DK CHILDREN
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0756603390

Book Description

Tells the inspirational tale of this spirited crusader.

In this groundbreaking new series, DK brings together fresh voices and DK design values to give readers the most information-packed, visually exciting biographies on the market today. Full-color photographs of people, places, and artifacts, definitions of key words, and sidebars on related subjects add dimension and relevance to stories of famous lives that students will love to read.

Customer Reviews:

Traversing a Dark Valley.......2005-03-21

"Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." ~Helen Keller

The DK Biographies introduce children to famous and influential individuals, although I personally also enjoy reading these tiny biographies. It is a great way to gain insight into a life and Helen Keller is a symbol of overcoming limitations. She refused to live her life shut away in a dark room and instead she taught herself to speak many languages, traveled to many countries and loved to read.

Helen Keller's life is truly inspirational and although her life started out in such a bleak way, she overcame many obstacles and eventually exceeded everyone's expectations. She was actually world-famous by the age of 10. It is truly amazing to see the articles she wrote at age 12.

After we read about the initial illness that left her blind and deaf, Leslie Garrett takes us on a beautiful journey through Helen's life. She was quite the little prankster as a child and also had a great sense of humor about life in general. She also had a temper and this is where Annie Sullivan enters the picture.

We learn about Annie Sullivan's life and how Helen and Annie meet. Leslie Garrett explains how Helen learns about life and how to live in a world where few people understand her. Annie shows extreme patience in very difficult situations and eventually teaches Helen how to deal with everyday situations. She also teaches her how to read and later on attends college classes with her to spell out the lessons into her hand.

Leslie Garrett's writing style is perfect for this story and this is definitely one of my favorite DK biographies. After reading this story, you will never again think about life in the same way.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." ~Helen Keller

~TheRebeccaReview.com

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