Louis Braille: The Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind

Louis Braille. The Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind
Margaret Davidson

In my experience children are always interested in the life of Louis Braille. As a little boy he was able to see, and then one day he plays with an awl and he hurts his eye. Next, the book describes how he loses his ability to see one object after another. The story goes on to portray how mentors help him go to school and teach  him a way to read and write. Even more fascinating is how, as a young boy, he sets out to find a better system to enable the blind to read. Gaining acceptance for the idea took his entire life. By the end of the biography, children are affected on many levels and often feel very close to Louis Braille and to the book itself.

Of course, your reader will want to try reading Braille too. This Scholastic biography shows them the alphabet. Margaret Davidson was a prolific author of biographies for children. Here are some of her other titles:

The Story of Eleanor Roosevelt


Helen Keller


Helen Keller's Teacher


The Story of Jackie Robinson: Bravest Man in Baseball


Frederick Douglass Fights for Freedom


The Story of Golda Meir


Reading level is grades 3-6, but these can be read aloud to younger children and I recommend that you do!