Charlie: A Boy with Reading Difficulties and His Dream by Vassiliki Plomaritou

• 11/05/2013
• 1 comment

Charlie: A Boy with Reading Difficulties and His Dream
Vassiliki Plomaritou
Outskirts Press (2009)
ISBN 9781432723361
Reviewed by Sam Hartman (age 9) for Reader Views (7/09)

In the book “Charlie: A Boy with Reading Difficulties and His Dream,” Charlie is a boy with a dream of becoming a poet.  But he has one big problem.  He has dyslexia, meaning he reads everything backwards.  Because of that one problem, everyone at his new school teases him because he can’t read very well when he has to read aloud.  This makes Charlie feel really sad and he never wants to go to school.

Luckily, he discovers not everyone at his new school is mean.  He is very nervous about a poetry recital that is coming up because he can’t read very well.  One day while someone is teasing him, he meets a nice boy, William, who helps him boost his confidence in his abilities by working with him to get ready for the poetry recital.   He also gets a specialist teacher in dyslexia that helps him read better.  How will all this turn out for Charlie?  Read the book to find out.

There is an important moral to this story.  Even if someone has one problem, it does not mean that they are very different from everyone else.  I would recommend this book for ages 8 and up.  It would be especially good for kids who have friends or classmates with dyslexia.   It will help them understand how hard it is to have dyslexia and how they can help.  Even though this story is not action packed, I recommend Charlie: A Boy with Reading Difficulties and His Dream” because it teaches you and will give you something to think about.