Reviews for Leif Eriksson: Viking Explorer

The average rating for Leif Eriksson: Viking Explorer based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-06-19 00:00:00 Terry Bobbos Born fifty years before Helen Keller, Laura Bridgman lost her sight and hearing from scarlet fever and yet went on to live a remarkable life. The author of She Touched the World, Sally Hobart Alexander, tells Laura's life story with a sensibility born from experience as she, too, is completely blind and partially deaf. Laura's story brought her fame because of all she was able to overcome, and parents held her up as an example to their own children of what can be accomplished with hard work and a good education. This biography is filled with wonderful daguerreotypes of Laura, her school, her doctor -Samuel Gridley Howe - as well as photographs of educational tools used for the blind in the 1800's like tactile globes, a braille bible, pasteboard device for writing, and a metal case for learning arithmetic. Kids of all ages would enjoy learning of Laura's story and hearing of her introduction to the "poorly behaved and wild" Helen Keller. Includes excellent source notes, bibliography and website list.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-07-01 00:00:00 Shay Mustafa This was a pretty amazing biography about Laura Bridgman. At 2-yrs-old, Laura lost her sight, hearing, taste, and smell due to Scarlet Fever. A doctor in Massachusetts (Samuel Howe) heard about her and convinced her parents to let Laura live with him on the East Coast so he could teach her. Laura was really very smart and was easy to teach and Howe was able to show the world that people with disabilities were able to learn and live productive lives just like non-disabled people. Really, his work was ground-breaking at that time. And Laura was famous! Many people were inspired by Laura including Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Charles Darwin observed Laura signing while dreaming which he believed proved his theory that language is necessary for thought (interesting!!??). Laura lived well before Helen Keller and actually taught Helen's teacher, Ann Sullivan, how to fingerspell. She was an amazing person who overcame amazing adversity and lived by the motto: "Obstacles are things to be overcome"