Heroes - Lives to Learn From
October
Diligence Self-Control & Self-Discipline Perseverance
October
Diligence Self-Control & Self-Discipline Perseverance
Louis Braille (1809-1852)
Our October hero, Louis Braille, embodied all these virtues and contributed something revolutionary to the world: a tactile alphabet that bears his name, making production of books for the blind possible. Young Louis opened windows on the world of learning to millions of visually impaired.
Braille’s is a story of tragic loss, determination and resilience. Born in the early nineteenth century, the son of a French leather worker, Louis lost his sight at age three. Though his father had told him never to enter his shop without him, young Louis (bored) wandered in one day, and found an awl and strap of leather, and began to create. A slip of the hand sent the sharp awl flying and robbed him of sight in one eye. An infection spread to the other eye, rendering him blind. By four, Louis was compensating for loss of his sight with other senses and cues; he had learned to do many household chores, and his spirit was undaunted. But when he went to school, he longed for books that he could read. A lecture on military cryptography (using dots for sounds) at a school for the blind in Paris was the inspiration for Louis's life’s contribution. By age twelve, Louis had invented an alphabet of raised dots that formed the basis of his system. His alphabet today is virtually unchanged, and appropriately, it bears his name. Here we feature some excellent children’s books about the boy who refused to give up.
Our October hero, Louis Braille, embodied all these virtues and contributed something revolutionary to the world: a tactile alphabet that bears his name, making production of books for the blind possible. Young Louis opened windows on the world of learning to millions of visually impaired.
Braille’s is a story of tragic loss, determination and resilience. Born in the early nineteenth century, the son of a French leather worker, Louis lost his sight at age three. Though his father had told him never to enter his shop without him, young Louis (bored) wandered in one day, and found an awl and strap of leather, and began to create. A slip of the hand sent the sharp awl flying and robbed him of sight in one eye. An infection spread to the other eye, rendering him blind. By four, Louis was compensating for loss of his sight with other senses and cues; he had learned to do many household chores, and his spirit was undaunted. But when he went to school, he longed for books that he could read. A lecture on military cryptography (using dots for sounds) at a school for the blind in Paris was the inspiration for Louis's life’s contribution. By age twelve, Louis had invented an alphabet of raised dots that formed the basis of his system. His alphabet today is virtually unchanged, and appropriately, it bears his name. Here we feature some excellent children’s books about the boy who refused to give up.
Six Dots. A Story of Young Louis Braille. Jen Bryant. Illustrated by Boris Kulikov. Alfred Knopf, 2016 (K-3) Diligence, Grit
Written from Louis's perspective, this book introduces us to Braille's childhood, the accident in his father’s shop that rendered him blind, and his frightening entrance into a "dark and dangerous" world. Louis learned to use his other senses, but longed for books that he could read. At a school for the blind, the Headmaster showed students a code the French army was using with dots for sounds. After several years of hard work, Louis developed a tactile alphabet that anyone could read. An inspiring look into the life of a young person who wouldn’t take no for an answer. 
A Picture Book of Louis Braille. David Adler. Illustrated by John & Alexandra Wallner. Holiday House, 2019. Perseverance,
Lives to Learn From. (1-3) Though blinded at age three, Louis never stopped wanting to learn about the world around him. He longed to read books, but there was no way for a blind child to read at this time. When he was taught sonography – the system of writing dots and dashes for sounds - he realized its potential for the blind, and worked tirelessly to perfect a system of raised letters that would be easy to read and write. Beautiful full page illustrations. A new edition of this book will be released on Dec. 10, 2019. |
Louis Braille: The Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind. Margaret Davidson. Illustrated by Janet Compere. Scholastic, 1991. (3-5) 80 pages. Diligence, Perseverance
This slender chapter book recounts the extraordinary life of Louis Braille for older children. Colorfully written and poignantly told, the story follows Louis from the onset of his blindness in a French village at age three, to his triumphs learning to do chores without sight, to his school-age battles learning without the benefit of books. When his parish priest heard of a school for the blind in Paris, off went Louis, only to discover that his life’s work would be to invent an alphabet that allowed the blind to read. He did it – at age 12! An amazing story of dedication and persistence in the face of adversity. Mostly text; not a picture book. If your students are good readers, they could read this themselves after listening to Six Dots in class. 
Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille. Russell Freedman. Illustrated by Kate Kiesler. Clarion, 1999. 96 pages. (5-8) This is the Louis Braille story told with the usual depth and sympathy of Russell Freedman, and is beautifully illustrated by Kate Kiesler.
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Who Was Louis Braille? Margaret Frith. Illustrated by Robert Squier. Penguin, 2014. 112 pages (3-6)
This 112 page chapter book is written at the third to sixth grade reading level and provides a fuller accounting of Braille’s life with Frith’s characteristic pithiness and charm.
This 112 page chapter book is written at the third to sixth grade reading level and provides a fuller accounting of Braille’s life with Frith’s characteristic pithiness and charm.
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Norman Borlaug (1914-2009)
This Iowa-born prairie farm boy had a passion for growing crops and ending hunger. Father of what as been called “the Green Revolution,” he received his Ph.D. in plant genetics in 1942, and set off to impoverished Mexico to help increase crop yields there. His path-breaking work in the late 1940s resulted in hardier, high-yield wheat strains that vastly improved harvests. (Mexico had been importing wheat and corn to feed its people, but within a decade became an exporter.) For this work, Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. His services were in demand, and he was called to India and Pakistan, where drought and famine threatened starvation on a mass scale. His work developing higher-yielding strains of wheat and rice helped dramatically increase harvests and avert mass starvation. He has been called “the man who has saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived.” Work ethic, intellectual curiosity, and a passion for helping others, are all exemplified in the life of Norman Borlaug. |
Borlaug’s Legacy
Norman Borlaug was a humble and self-effacing man. When he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, he was dumbfounded, and he urged the Nobel committee to launch instead a Nobel Food and Agriculture Prize. They did not take his advice, so while he continued his own work, Borlaug pursued other avenues. He launched “The World Food Prize” in 1987.
Norman Borlaug was a humble and self-effacing man. When he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, he was dumbfounded, and he urged the Nobel committee to launch instead a Nobel Food and Agriculture Prize. They did not take his advice, so while he continued his own work, Borlaug pursued other avenues. He launched “The World Food Prize” in 1987.
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The Man Who Fed the World: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug and His Battle to End World Hunger
Leon Hesser Durbin House, 2006 Vertical Divider
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The World Food Prize organization (founded by Norman Borlaug and based in Des Moines, Iowa) awards a substantial sum annually to the individual who has “done the most to help done the most to advance human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.” Food Prize Laureates have made huge strides improving rice production, developing high protein maize, eradicating plant diseases and much more. Students will find a wealth of information about hunger and those who combat it on The World Food Prize website at: www.worldfoodprize.org