REFLECTION ZONE: Social Justice in Children's Literature



I read Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco.  It is a story about a girl who struggles in school because she has dyslexia and can't read.  She would look at the tops of students' heads while they read to see what was happening to theirs that wasn't happening to hers. She found coping strategies to actually fool her teachers to think she could read, but she could not.  Because of this kids picked on her and called her dumb and other names.  It wasn't until her 5th grade teacher, Mr. Falker,  figured out she couldn't read that she got the extra help she needed.  He stayed after school to work with her, and he eventually taught her to read.
There are parts of this book that give me goose bumps, and one part is the last page, when she explains that the little girl in the book was her.  She writes that 30 years later she ran into her 5th grade teacher and he asked her what she did for a living, and she responded, " Why, Mr. Falker, I make books for children... Thank you, Mr. Falker.  Thank you."

Most of my students enjoyed listening to the story, are are some of the messages they took away from the book.
Don't be mean to people just because they are different.  Anything is possible with determination.  Have faith in yourself.  No one is perfect. You shouldn't tease someone when they are trying to learn something new.  Everyone can be smart if they try hard. Maybe you can't do one thing, but you're really good at another.
These were all great things to take away, and I am glad I took time to read it.