Annie and Helen

Written by Deborah Hopkinson
Illustrated by Raul Colon

Grade:

1-5

ISBN-13:

978-0375857065

Publisher:

Schwartz & Wade (2012)

Compassion meets backbone in this well-told and richly illustrated picture book. As one who had suffered a painful eye disease in her youth, Annie Sullivan was eager to help Helen Keller escape the prison of her blindness and deafness. A graduate of Perkins School for the Blind, Annie reached out to a willful and unruly six-year-old, Helen Keller. Her teaching involved some tough love. This is one of the great teacher-student friendship stories of all time. It also illustrates that sensing the needs of others and acting to end their distress doesn’t necessarily mean giving them everything they want.