January Pick For the Older Sibling: Annie and Helen

I was fascinated by Helen Keller when I was a girl, so I was excited to see this new picture book. I hoped it would be a good one that expanded my knowledge about Helen Keller and entertained me. I wasn’t disappointed.

It’s beautifully designed, with numerous sepia photographs of Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, on the inside covers. One photo shows them finger-spelling. Another shows Helen reading a Braille book, and still another shows her with her dog, Jumbo.

The story itself is engaging and thorough with just the right amount of information to satisfy. By means of excerpts from Annie’s letters, we learn even more about Helen’s progress and struggles.

The hand signs for the manual finger alphabet signing are shown in a text illustration. I loved the tactile addition on the back cover, which is printed with the Braille Alphabet, complete with raised dots for A to Z.

Annie and Helen

Author: Deborah Hopkinson

Illustrator: Raul Colon

Schwartz & Wade, 2012