Looking after Louis
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, ColumbiaCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.