Special People Special Ways
Kindergarten-Grade 2-Maguire's attempt to generate sympathy and understanding for physically and mentally challenged individuals fails. In stilted verse, the author details various disabilities and emphasizes that "special" people need love and acceptance, too. The wording and rhymes in the text are often awkward: "Creams flow from small tubes/To soothe where it aches,/And many seek cures/For jitters and shakes." By portraying children with every imaginable handicap or infirmity including blindness, deafness, myopia, paralysis, and obesity, Bailey has diminished the effectiveness of the message. The chubby cartoon characters with oversized heads and plastered-on smiles are irritating rather than endearing. While the message is a worthy one, the delivery is unsuccessful on every level.Esther C. Ball, Carver Elementary School, Newport News, VACopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an alternateHardcoveredition.