Book Review for SIX DOTS: A STORY OF YOUNG LOUIS BRAILLE by Jen Bryant

Book Review by Allie Davis
MLIS 5653 Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bryant, Jen. 2016. Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille. Illustrated by Boris Kulikov.  New York, NW: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN  9780449813379

Connect with the Author 
http://www.jenbryant.com/

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
    Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille is a biography picture book of how 15 year-old Louis Braille came to invent the Braille alphabet.  Early on in this short children's story, we see how Louis's eyesight is accidentally destroyed and how he compensates for his mistake.  At home, he dreams of the day when people will quit saying, "I'm sorry," and instead, figure out a way to get him books to read.  When that does not happen, a noble woman in his French town helps procure a place in the Royal School for the Blind. The author does an excellent job of helping the reader FEEL what Louis felt as he was desperately trying to get to the books for the blind at the school; he just has to be the best student he can be. Louis is extremely disappointed when he realizes that only several sentences can be placed on a page with raised text books he eventually gets to "read."  His ardent desire to read drives him ever onward to progress, inspired by a code invented by a military captain for sending secret messages.  After many years and much revision, the Braille alphabet slowly emerges.  This incredibly intense but endearing story is much enhanced by Kulikov's whimsical pictures.  In many of the frames, Louis is sitting by the window, symbolic of his desire for a window of opportunity.  This story is also told with many French words which have a pronunciation guide at the beginning of the story and contextual translations within, making it an authentic and exciting journey to Braille's France.  Six Dots is a little heavy on wording for very young readers, but the story itself is relevant to readers of all ages.  
     The book takes us from Louis Braille's birth through his completion of the Braille alphabetic system.  It begins in Coupvray where his family lives and where he sustains his injury in his father's workshop.  Not much of this life is presented except to show how intelligent he is in his early years, and how he continues to learn even after he is injured.  Readers are compelled to understand his frustration with the lack of needed resources to complete his education, and any person who is an avid reader will feel compassion at his plight.  We continue through his stay at the cold, crowded School for the Blind in Paris where he continues his education.  A bit of foreshadowing through words and images is present when we learn that Louis is using his fingers to play music on the organ, hinting at the sensitivity of his fingertips. Finally, the reader feels his success and his joy when his invention is complete, comprehending just how important it was and is, when Helen Keller says, "We, the blind, are as indebted to Louis Braille as mankind is to Gutenberg."  
      Popular cultural belief that people with disabilities cannot function normally is clearly debunked in Six Dots, and although Horn Book Magazine says the story is much embellished, Jen Bryant says that this is her attempt to understand what Louis Braille FELT like.  A question and answer section at the end of the story helps shed true light to what life would have been like in the 1800s and what Braille went through.  Between the two portions of the book, an accurate and dramatic portrayal draws the reader in.  
       Overall, I feel like this simple book is one worthy of being added to any classroom, library, or personal collection.  It is one that can be read over and over again, and it very well could be passed down through the generations.  Louis Braille's lasting contributions to the blind are indeed captured in both words and images in this delightful picture book that children of all ages will love and enjoy. 

AWARDS  

• Schneider Family Book Award (Won Award in 2017)
• Junior Library Guild Selection 
• Amazon Best Books of the Month, September 2016
• Amazon Best Non-Fiction Books for Children 2017
• Bank Street College of Education and Children's Book Committee Best Chidlren's Books of the Year 2017 *with Outstanding Merit
• Chicago Public Library Best Informational Books for Younger Readers 2016
• Children's Book Council, "2017 Best STEM Books"
• Children's Book Review, Best New Picture Books, September 2016
• Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Award, Intermediate List 2017-2018
• National Science Teachers Association Best STEM Books of 2016
• Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2017
• Society of Illustrator's Original Art, 2016
• 2017 Texas Topaz Reading List
• Walking Brain Cells Top Ten Nonfiction Books 2016

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Booklist, "As a child, young Louis Braille surprised everyone in his French village with his curiosity and energy. Sadly, an accident with an awl blinded him first in one eye and then, when infection spread, in the other. Though Louis learned to navigate daily life, he missed the knowledge gained through reading, and applied to the Royal School for the Blind, where books with raised letters provided a slow and unsatisfying alternative. But when introduced to a French military code written in patterns of dots, Louis wondered if it could be expanded into an actual language. This picture book is fairly text heavy, and it could have benefited from the inclusion of actual Braille in addition to the diagram of the Braille alphabet on the endpapers. Still, Kulikov's illustrations beautifully capture Louis' cleverness and tactile nature. Particularly effective are spreads where Louis focuses on his hearing: line drawings laid over a black background represent the sounds he hears. An interesting exploration of the life of a little-discussed inventor.." (C) June 1, 2016.
• School Library Journal, "This picture book biography of Louis Braille (1809-59) strikes a perfect balance between the seriousness of Braille's life and the exuberance he projected out into the world. The text highlights Braille's determination to pursue an education. Readers will learn how he attended the Royal School in Paris and was frustrated by the lack of books for the blind, an obstacle that set him off on a long quest to invent an accessible reading system. Braille ultimately found success by simplifying a military coding technique that had earlier been introduced but was far too complex. The focus on Braille as one of the world's great inventors is apt, and by taking a close look at his childhood, his family, and his experiences as a young person, Bryant makes Braille's story even more powerful. She writes from his perspective, which brings a level of intimacy sure to resonate with readers. ..." (C) Sept. 1, 2016
• Publishers Weekly, "After an accident in 1819 left a young Louis Braille blind, he traveled to Paris at age 10 to study at the Royal School for the Blind, where he was disheartened to discover that the books available for children like him fell far short of his hopes: "Words as large as my hand! Sentences that took up half a page!... Even if I read a hundred books like this, how much could I learn?" Kulikov (W Is for Webster) makes striking use of chalky blue lines against black backdrops to create ghostly images of the world Braille could no longer see, suggesting a landscape re-created in his mind's eye. Bryant's (The Right Word) sensitive first-person narration draws readers intimately close to Braille's experiences, and an author's note and q&a add further depth to a stirring portrait of innovation and determination." (C) August 15, 2016.

CONNECTIONS

Use as an introduction to Louis Braille, the Braille language, blindness, France, schools for the Blind, teachers, senses, and coding.
https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=51860&a=1
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Six-Dots-A-Story-of-Young-Louis-Braille-Guided-Reading-2831149
https://youtu.be/gMG_55YuJsM

http://www.jenbryant.com/images/pdf/Discussion%20Guide%20Six%20Dots%20FINAL.pdf#zoom=70

Gather more Jen Bryant titles to read such as:

• The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus. ISBN  008253854   
• Splash: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin. ISBN  0375867120
• The Trial. ISBN:  0440419867

Gather other Schneider Family Book Award titles to read such as:
·       Lord, Emery. When We Collided. ISBN 1681192039
·       Reynolds, Jason. as brave as you. ISBN  1481415913 
·       Giles, Gail. Girls Like Us. ISBN 0763662674