Review: `Marcus what can you do?'
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 20, 2014
Mark Whyte and Katie Whyte are a husband and wife author team who has put together a remarkably fine book. They both come to this assignment with personal reasons. To share some biographical data about Mark, he states `As someone who is disabled and has been since breaking my neck at age 20 while wrestling in college, I understand many of the trials that disabled men, women and kids wrestle with. I am also the father of an autistic son and again...same understanding. The disabled are not any different than anyone else. We all dream of being big, strong and fast and of being smart and capable of great things. That is in a sense, our goal with Miss Quince and the Can-Do Crew, that is to give those who are disabled a chance to dream big and those who are not disabled to see that their fellow classmates and neighbors are pretty much just like everyone else.' Katie is a speech language pathologist. Now if anyone can resist an intro like that, better step back and check your values!In the town of Windswept a young boy Nate is saying goodnight to his father who is in a wheelchair. Nate asks for an explanation and his father relates the story of a young boy named Marcus who was in a wheelchair following an accident. He still needed to attend school even if the bullies around him mocked him. Marcus enters the school and is assigned to Miss Quince who teaches in the Room with the Yellow Door. Afraid he can't compete in a wheelchair Miss Quince sends him on errands for her (`Marcus, what can you do?') - tasks that Marcus can do well. Marcus meets his fellow students, each with a disability: Ray has cerebral palsy, Joey is blind, Tim has autism, and Carrie has Downs Syndrome, but under the guidance of Miss Quince, Marcus becomes the super fast hero able to chase away an angry dog, Joey has heightened reflexes, Tim has a super memory, and Carrie is able to lift gloom and make everyone feel better. Together they become the Can Do Crew thanks to the guidance of Miss Quince - who wears a secret gold locket engraved with Philippians 4:13 (I can do all this through him who gives me strength).Mark and Katie's story emphasizes that children (and adults!) with special needs also happen to have special gifts. It is a beautiful story, illustrated by Pawan Kumar of Anipix Illustrators. Buy this book, pass it around and give it as gifts to spread the wholesome heartwarming word it offers. Grady Harp, February 14