Thank You, Mr. Falker
By Patricia Polacco
A picture book
Reviewed by Diana Foster
I read this story at the beginning of every school year to
my fifth grade students and get
teary-eyed every time!
This is the story of Trisha, a
student with Dyslexia. The story begins
as Trisha is entering kindergarten eager to learn how to read. She comes from a family who values
books. “Honey is sweet and so is knowledge, but
knowledge is like the bee that made that sweet honey, you have to chase it
through the pages of a book.”
Trisha soon learns that reading is difficult
for her. She makes her way through
fourth grade, feeling increasingly stupid.
Students tease her, and she quietly learns how to hide her disability
and blend in. It isn’t until she enters
fifth grade with Mr. Falker that a teacher recognizes her disability and helps
her learn how to read.
At the end of the story, we learn that Trish
is Patricia Polacco and this is an autobiographical account of her reading
disability. It is an inspiring story for
struggling reading students to see how this well-known author overcame a
reading disability and became a writer. It also teaches empathy to other
students and is a conversation starter for a discussion about how we all learn
differently.
Hi Diana. I enjoyed your review. I especially like how it highlights it is never too late to learn to read if you really want to "chase the honey." I will definitely share this book with students. Inspiring book! PK
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding this book to the blog. It's such a great read for teachers and students. I'd highly recommend Fish in a Tree if you want to read another inspiring story like this one!
ReplyDelete~Andrea