ISBN: 0395775167
PLOT SUMMARY OUT OF DARKNESS is the story of Louis Braille, who, at the age of three was blinded by an accident in his father's saddle-making shop. When he was older he received scant lessons from the village priest and the local school master, and his parents worried about his future.
Louis was admitted to the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris in 1819. This school was the first of its kind in the world. Louis took courses in history, grammar, arithmetic and geography. He was introduced to a new method of writing (based on word sounds) using dots and dashes punched into paper. But after recognizing its awkwardness, Louis worked intently on an improvement. At the age of fifteen, he developed a more simple and efficient method which "allowed him to represent any letter of the alphabet within the space of a fingertip". The technique still bears his name and is still widely used by the blind today.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Russell Freedman uses a simple, evenly pitched prose accessible to middle grades students. The voice and tone are clear and honest and the descriptions are vivid, "He recognized people by the sounds of their voices, but could no longer picture their faces. Spring became associated with the sweet smell of wildflowers blooming...rain was the sharp wetness on his face."
This account of Braille's talented and generous life is crafted into eight chapters (and an index) on smaller pages with wide margins. The pencil drawings and the watercolor jacket illustration lend authenticity to the narrative.
The only shortcoming is that research and information sources are only indicated by acknowledgements to the Director of Information of the American Foundation of the Blind and to the Custodian of the Louis Braille Birthplace Municipal Museum.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Kirkus Reviews: "With warmth and care, Freedman deftly delineates a life."
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: "...competently conveys Braille's pioneering spirit, and kids will be particularly interested in Braille's youth at the time of his invention and his battle against the establishment for its acceptance."
Children's Literature: ...a fascinating and inspirational, but not saccharine, biography of a young man who changed the world for the blind."
CONNECTIONS
*This biography would undoubtedly lend itself to a classroom read aloud.
*Other books by Russell Freedman:
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT: A LIFE OF DISCOVERY (1993)
COWBOYS OF THE WILD WEST (1985)
CHILDREN OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION (2005)
WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE (2008)
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