This book is about a blind boy name Davey who likes to do everything for himself. Whenever his classmate asked to do things for him, he would reply with “Thanks, but not thanks.” They wanted to play kickball, in order for Davey to play, his classmate would make noise for him to follow in their directions. . His friends accepted him for who he is and learn to help him without do physically helping him. This is a great book for students. Even though Davey is blind, he can still do things for himself. ( )

I absolutely loved this book. It shows how naturally caring and helpful children are. Davey was self-reliant and he wasn’t afraid to let his classmates know it. Every time they offered to help he would respond with, “Thanks, but no thanks”. While out on the playground Davey had a hard time playing kickball because he was blind. To make Davey feel comfortable with playing kickball, his classmates came up with a plan to guide him on the field. They used a whistle to get everyone quiet so he could hear when the ball was headed his way. They had the basemen call out to Davey to guide him to the bases. Awesome story! It shows how children can work together to help others feel comfortable despite their disability. ( )

A positive portrayal of a boy who is blind, with a focus on his abilities rather than his disability. It also depicts kids working cooperatively to find a way to accommodate Davey in kickball games. A good book to kick off discussion about differing abilities. ( )

Davey is blind and has just started at a new school, all the kids keep trying to help him do things to which he always replies no thank you. When they go outside and play kick ball, Davey isn't very good; some of the kids get frustrated and don't want him to play anymore. Davey's feelings are hurt, but the other kids realize that Davey does things differently, but he doesn't want their help. They come up with a plan to help Davey play and it works out perfectly.

Age level: 5-8
Source: Pierce County Library

This book is an awesome tale of how peers of Davey learn that helping those around you is a good thing, but helping those who do not need help is unnecessary and can be frustrating. I really enjoyed this book because I am a huge advocate for this mindset. I don't like to offer help to the people with disabilities that I work with if I know they can do something. Even sometimes if I am working with someone and they ask for help, I may not help them or only help them a little to show them that they can have the confidence to do something on their own. Davey's classmates mean well in trying to help him with the things that they assume he cannot do, "Let me open that" etc... Davey shows them how able he really is and teaches his peers that he deserves some independence and a chance to find his own ability level. The main point of this book is to show that over-helping can be making someone feel less abled than they really are. ( )