You can cast your vote for the 2013 Readers’ Choice Award online at oregonlive.com/books. The winner will be announced at the Oregon Book Awards ceremony on April 8th at the Gerding Theater at the Armory.
2013 Oregon Book Awards Finalist
Annie and Helen by Deborah Hopkinson
Category
Children’s Literature
Publisher
Random House
Description
Annie and Helen explores the relationship between Annie Sullivan and her young pupil, Helen Keller. This nonfiction picture book is interspersed with excerpts of Annie’s letters home, which chronicle the first months of her extraordinary journey to find innovative ways to help Helen understand language and the world around her. The book closes with Helen Keller’s own first letter.
An excerpt from Annie and Helen
Helen loved the gentle fluttering of a butterfly in her hand,
the moist, soft feel of moss,
the sweet-scented meadow breeze against her cheek.
She crowed with delight to touch a litter of squirming puppies.
When Helen petted one, Annie spelled p-u-p-p-y into her other palm.
Then, drawing Helen’s hand over all of them, she spelled p-u-p-p-i-e-s.
Helen held up a finger for each puppy she touched.
F-i-v-e, spelled Annie, teaching her the number.
About the Author
A former Oregon book award finalist and winner, Deborah Hopkinson serves as Vice President for Advancement for Pacific Northwest College of Art. Her 2012-13 books include the Sibert Honor book, Titanic: Voices from the Disaster; Knit Your Bit; and The Great Trouble, a Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel.
Praise for Annie and Helen
“…What is breathtakingly shown here, through accurate, cross-hatched watercolor paintings; excerpts from Sullivan’s correspondence to her former teacher; and concise and poetic language, is the woman’s patience and belief in the intelligence of her student to grasp the concepts of language….elucidating the brilliant process of educating the deaf and blind pioneered by Annie Sullivan.” –School Library Journal, September 2012
Suggested Links
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