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Reviewed by Barbara Fanson for Readers' Favorite
The front cover provokes intrigue and makes me want to open the book titled The Boy Who Opened Our Eyes to find out why the children are under the sheets. Elaine describes how amazing her brother, Mark, is—even though he is blind. She describes how he is a talented musician and confident. When Mark is bullied by Walter at school, Elaine enlists the help of her friends. They teach Mark to walk away from bullies and they tell Walter to stop being a mean person. There is strength in numbers. If several people stand up to a bully, the bully may back down. The Boy Who Opened Our Eyes also introduces techniques for dealing with bullies like Walter. Elaine’s best friend, Ivy, wishes people should show more tolerance of people who are different than them.
Author Elaine Sussman has created a wonderful book in The Boy Who Opened Our Eyes about the challenges of being blind. Without lecturing, the book should help children understand the difficulties of “seeing” for a blind person and what we can do to help. It’s ironic that a blind person helps us “to see.” How would you describe the colour yellow to a blind person? How would you describe clouds so Mark and other blind people can understand? What a great idea to tie bells to a kite so that Mark can “hear” a kite and understand how the sound gets quieter as the kite flies higher in the sky. This book is full of explanations that we could all use. The realistic renderings by illustrator Anni Matsick are very well drawn and help to convey the story. The illustrations and layout for The Boy Who Opened Our Eyes are inviting and professional. Teachers and childcare workers will like the history of Braille and how it helps blind people read and write.
