Customer Reviews

Howie Helps Himself

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My 6 year old son has cerebral palsy and he and I both found Howie's story to be very inspiring. Howie is severly physically handicapped. The story is about Howie's frustrations and triumphs as he struggles to become more independent. My son is not in a wheel chair so he has begun to appreciate how fortunate he is to be able to do many things that Howie cannot. The book also helped him developed empathy for those less fortunate than him.

My daughter is 4 and is fascinated by this book. She wants to read it over and over. It is the only book I have found about a child in a wheelchair. I wish there were more about kids with disabilities.

I am studying to be a special education teacher so I thought this book, from what I knew about it would be a great book to have in my classroom library... I got the book in the mail today and read it... I was very disappointed. The first half of the book focuses on what Howie CAN'T DO which puts a very negative connotation on disability for children who dont know about disability. Finally in the second half of the story we hear about Howie's dream to be able to push his wheelchair as fast as his friends can which after all the talk of what he cant do makes his accomplishment not seem like that big of a deal... which to a kid with a disability is a HUGE deal. The pictures are also very out of date... the wheelchair Howie is in, today would be motorized and there are other kids in the class who have leg braces which would not look like that anymore which for kids would be very misleading because it wont look like any kids they see with disabilities.

I really have to disagree with the other reviewers here. I find this book to be totally insensitive to children with disabilities. It is filled with discussion about what Howie "can not do at all" and though he does manage to push his wheelchair by himself eventually, he is still depicted as a quite depressed, pathetic little boy. I can't help but think that if people are praising Howie Helps Himself, that they must have never had the opportunity to see the many positive examples of books which include characters with disabilities. Try Seal Surfer by Michael Foreman instead.

This book is great. It went straight to my heart. Having a child who is a lot like "Howie" I really appreciated this book. When it talks about all of the things Howie can't do it is clear to other readers that some kids with disabilities cannot do the things we take for granted. It is clear and not candy coated. It is nice to finally read a book where the main character has some very significant disabilities instead of just the minor ones you usually read about.