From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-This upbeat look at mainstreaming is told from the point of view of a little girl who sits next to an autistic boy. Louis, who repeats words he hears and has little interaction with his peers, gets away with behavior that the other children cannot, such as mimicking the teacher. One day, after he shows interest in playing soccer with a classmate, Miss Owlie allows both of them to go outside and play during the afternoon, prompting the narrator to point out the unfairness of this treatment. With her teacher's help, the child comes to realize that sometimes it's OK to "break rules for special people." Though the story depicts a fairly innocuous display of autism, which may mislead some readers about the disorder, the main focus is on the development of sensitivity in the other students. Dunbar's childlike paintings cleverly show how Louis is essentially the same as the other kids-he could be any one of the boys in the class, until the artwork focuses more closely on him. An afterword by a child clinical psychologist offers adults more information about autism and mainstreaming.
-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbia Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 1-3. Miss Owlie's classroom is a vibrant hum of activity, filled with children who act realistically, if a bit crazily. Double-page spreads convey the frenzied pace. They burst with kids (reminiscent of Jules Feiffer characters) playing and making pictures. Louis, however, remains detached. He mostly sits and stares at the wall or repeats what others say to him or bits of conversations he hears in class. The little girl who sits next to Louis wants to get him involved, and she finally finds a way in a playground soccer game. Though most adults will quickly catch on that Louis is autistic (a clinical psychologist's note at the end, addressed to adults, explains about autism), children might not fully grasp the situation. But that may not matter much, as the story is more about creative kindness and inclusion than it is about autism; it's really a big-hearted example of persistence and compassion, and little ones won't have a problem understanding that.
Connie FletcherCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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