The Story of Helen Keller: An Inspiring Biography for Young Readers (The Story of Biographies)

My daughter is 6 and loves this book series. This book was a super easy and interesting read with her. She really enjoyed the way the story was written. The books are really best for kids a bit older than her but little kids love them too.

This is a great book. Gives kids enough information to grasp interest. I really enjoyed reading it with my kids.

I bought five different Helen Keller biographies for children and read them all.This one ranked 4th out of 5 in my personal opinion.Pros: I had some information about Helen Keller's parents that most other biographies skip and provided some context into the time frame Helen Keller was born into, but unfortunately this means the beginning of the book is very dry and a data dump. The rest of the book is not much better, It feels more like a history textbook than a story.Besides that, all information this book includes is included, and better written in the DK life story series book, Helen Keller by Libby Romero.A Kinder or 1st grade student would probably not be able to read the DK life stories biography on their own, but would be able to easily follow along if it was read to them.If you are adamant that you want a book your early reader can read by themselves, then I would recommend the book " who was Helen Keller" by Gary Thompson, part of the penguin workshop publishing series of biographies. It is the same reading level as this one but written much more smoothly and engagingly. It reads like a story and not like a history textbook.

My Level 2 reader loves these books (we have 4-5). The chapters are the perfect length to hold his interest and the drawings capture his attention. We also love the extras along the way and the quiz at the end. Great series!

Very kid friendly, summed up well and great book!

I never leave reviews, however this one really aggravates me. In chapter one, under “Helens America” it touches on the Civil War, and says “The southern states used enslaved people as free labor and wanted to keep doing so. The northern states believed slavery was unfair and needed to end.” I’m not going to even get in on everything I want to, but slavery was NOT the reason for the Civil War and didn’t even become part of it until the war was already happening. Also, suggesting that the northern states didn’t have slavery is a complete lie used to make people hate the south of those days without knowing the actual history. It is planting seeds of emotional thinking/actions in young readers instead of learning facts. You are lying to impressionable children to further your own misguided beliefs while causing divide on misinterpreted wrongs. I’m not even sure we will continue reading seeing how quickly and easily the author has intentionally misguided our children with incorrect information and history. I do not recommend this book and will take note to not use this author/publication for future books.

I will admit that I really like the “Story of” series. It currently consists of at least twelve biographies by different authors that explore the lives of various notable historical figures. I’ve previously reviewed the Harriet Tubman biography that was also written by Christine Platt. I was impressed upon reviewing that book and sharing it with my 7 year old daughter. She has a real knack for writing in a way that’s engaging and interesting while at the same time explaining complex subjects in a way a 2nd grader would understand. In the case of the Tubman book it was in tackling slavery, explaining it in an age appropriate way while still managing to impart the utter injustice of it.This biography of Helen Keller shows the same deftness in writing about Helen Keller. Helen Keller is often remembered for her success despite her disabilities and being an advocate for the disabled. What is often less known is just how radical she was for her time. She was a socialist(and occasionally supported communist leaders), an ardent suffragette, a vocal supporter of the NAACP, a founding member of the ACLU and a pacifist. She leveraged her disability into a voice that had a far reaching impact on American life far beyond just the disabled. Christine Platt focuses mainly on Keller’s early life and overcoming her disability, but does not neglect the impact of Keller’s life beyond that. She talks about Keller’s social activism to some extent and specifically her advocacy for people with disabilities.This book is well written and engaging. It cover’s Keller’s early life including her family background, the challenges she faced as a youngster before she received help from Anne Sullivan, her success in school and her impact as an an advocate and activist. Like the Tubman book, “the Story of Helen Heller” has a lot of extras in it in the form of sidebars, questions to think about, a glossary of terms used in the book, post reading quiz and a bibliography. They are all tools that would make this book useful for discussion in a classroom setting or with parents who read with their children.Bottom Line:I really like this series because it presents the subject matter in an approachable and engaging way. It also isn’t preachy, simply explaining the background in an age appropriate manner. Definitely recommended.

The book is great for struggling readers. The content is well organised and easy to read. The topic is interesting.

This is a great book!! It is very comprehensive and thorough with multiple choice questions included in the back. Its a great book for grade 2 and up!!!!

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