I am Helen Keller (Ordinary People Change the World)

Both my granddaughter and I loved this biography about Helen Keller. We especially liked the raised dots in the book. This gave my granddaughter a good understanding of how Braille is used to read. This biography “I am Helen Keller” by Brad Meltzer, is one of the best in the series “Ordinary People Change The World”. The illustrations by Christopher Eliopoulos are outstanding in every book that we have read in this wonderful series of biographies. The book is extremely well written. I think I will buy these books as gifts for my granddaughter’s friends for their birthdays. It so refreshing to read outstanding biographies for children. Btw, I am a librarian and also ran the summer reading program in my home town.

Meltzer's People Who Change The World books are a shining light in a market that doesn't offer many kid friendly books on historical and inspiring people.The books are beautifully illustrated and full of rich details. We know be common knowledge who these historical people are, but how did they reach their potential? What inspired them? What motivated them?In a world of reality TV garbage and celebrity worship, there is a serious lack of role models in our media rich society. Meltzer wrote these books for his kids to demonstrate that there are some great role models that faced many advisories and obstacles and to achieve greatness. They demonstrate bravery, kindness and persistence of ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Their actions created historical significance that our children eventually learn about, but these books demonstrate how they did it and why they never gave up. They bring the significance of their lives to a level that young children can understand and inspire to become.Beautiful illustrations compliment the narrative.My kids love these books! They especially love Helen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks and Amelia Earhart. Thanks to these books, these names aren't just a familiar school topic. They are a doorway for our kids to experience stories of inspiration and triumph of ordinary people who do extraordinary things.

Great story and very well written. The illustrations are great as well.

It goes without saying that this is an excellent series of books. The author makes Helen relatable, and makes it easy for a my 4 year old to empathize with her. But what sets this one apart for me is that my daughter is learning to read with Helen. For example, when Anne Sullivan teaches Helen how to spell "D-O-L-L" and "W-A-T-E-R" on her hand, my daughter is learning to spell out these words as well. It's also neat that there are actual raised bumps for the braille alphabet. All of this is on top of the underlying message of perseverance and believing in oneself despite challenges. I'd give it 10 stars if I could!

We love these books. My son is 6 years old. We’ve been collected these titles for the last year and have every one in the set. He asks to read a different one every night and is learning to read them on his own. They are very educational and also entertaining. It’s amazing how much he has learned about Rosa Parks, Jim Henson, and all of the subjects of the books. He went as Jackie Robinson for book character day because, in his words, Jackie was so brave and a hero. His kindergarten teacher told me they were talking about differences and he started telling all his classmates about Gandhi. Amazing! These books have a great message and should be in everyone's library.

I buy books for my nephew, who turned 1 on Christmas Day. This is definitely for an older reader to read independently, however my brother and sister-in-law read to him every day. I buy all ranges of books to add variety for them (the adults). This is a beautiful book and a wonderful series overall. They are wonderfully written and illustrated. I learned something new when I read them before wrapping them as a gift. I love that they are multi-gendered and multi-racial. Even more, I just love the tagline: Ordinary People Change the World. I was unaware of this series until I heard the author talking about it on a podcast. I am so glad I found out about them. I will definitely be adding the entire series to my nephew's library.

We love the whole Ordinary People Change the World series, and this book in particular is my go-to gift when we're invited to children's birthday parties. Not only is it well written and fun to read, but everyone loves that there is real braille in the book!

I posted all over Facebook, Instagram, and even Twitter about this book! It's fantastic. It's a truly inspirational, well-read, easy to read great informative book for toddlers, kindergarteners, kids of all ages and even adults, honestly. I can't say enough wonderful things about this book. We have purchased every 'I Am' book to date that Brad Meltzer has written and this one was the most outstanding. Truly inspirational. Reading this book meant a lot to my family and I have already been telling everyone I know about this. Truly a great book for kids of all ages, types, sizes, learning levels, and more. It's a must have in my book case from now on!