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Summary
Summary
A young girl sits next to a boy named Louis at school. Louis has autism, but through imagination, kindness, and a special game of soccer, his classmates find a way to join him in his world. Then they can include Louis in theirs.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-This upbeat look at mainstreaming is told from the point of view of a little girl who sits next to an autistic boy. Louis, who repeats words he hears and has little interaction with his peers, gets away with behavior that the other children cannot, such as mimicking the teacher. One day, after he shows interest in playing soccer with a classmate, Miss Owlie allows both of them to go outside and play during the afternoon, prompting the narrator to point out the unfairness of this treatment. With her teacher's help, the child comes to realize that sometimes it's OK to "break rules for special people." Though the story depicts a fairly innocuous display of autism, which may mislead some readers about the disorder, the main focus is on the development of sensitivity in the other students. Dunbar's childlike paintings cleverly show how Louis is essentially the same as the other kids-he could be any one of the boys in the class, until the artwork focuses more closely on him. An afterword by a child clinical psychologist offers adults more information about autism and mainstreaming.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Louis, a child with autism, joins a regular classroom, and the other students invite him to take part in their activities in this story illustrated with childlike art. The message of inclusion is heartwarming but is undermined by Louis's being treated with kid gloves rather than like the other typically developing children, and his receiving the privilege of an extra recess because he is ""special. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Written by a clinical psychologist, this (fictional) view of an autistic child finding his place in a mainstream classroom bears a clear but not ponderous agenda. Louis tends to stare at the wall, parrot the last phrase he hears, draw inscrutable pictures, and sail right through playground soccer games--to all of which his classmates react with a mix of giggles, mild annoyance, and curiosity that, after calm conversations with their teacher, warm to acceptance. Dunbar illustrates this lesson in tolerance with sketchy scenes rendered in a childlike, cartoon style; in his bright red pullover, Louis is an easily spotted figure among the other, actively posed children, and like the montages of his jumbled but not entirely abstract paintings that open and close the episode, comes across as different but not, ultimately, beyond comprehension. (afterword) (Picture book. 7-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 1-3. Miss Owlie's classroom is a vibrant hum of activity, filled with children who act realistically, if a bit crazily. Double-page spreads convey the frenzied pace. They burst with kids (reminiscent of Jules Feiffer characters) playing and making pictures. Louis, however, remains detached. He mostly sits and stares at the wall or repeats what others say to him or bits of conversations he hears in class. The little girl who sits next to Louis wants to get him involved, and she finally finds a way in a playground soccer game. Though most adults will quickly catch on that Louis is autistic (a clinical psychologist's note at the end, addressed to adults, explains about autism), children might not fully grasp the situation. But that may not matter much, as the story is more about creative kindness and inclusion than it is about autism; it's really a big-hearted example of persistence and compassion, and little ones won't have a problem understanding that. --Connie Fletcher Copyright 2004 Booklist
