The Brain Pioneer
Howard Eaton
BookBaby (2018)
ISBN 9781543933765
Reviewed by Autumn (age 13) and Noelle (big sister) for Reader Views Kids (12/18)
“The Brain Pioneer” is a book about Barbara Arrowsmith-Young by Howard Eaton.
When Barbara was little, she dreamed of going to school and becoming a passionate learner just like the rest of her family. But on her first day, she found herself having trouble understanding any of the lessons given to her. She could not read the same way other children could and no matter how hard she studied Barbara could not understand the problems on her work. Everyone thought it was a mental block that kept her from understanding her lessons and in a way, they were right – Barbara had a mental block called dyslexia. No one really knew what this was back then so there were no special classes or help offered by schools, leaving Barbara and her family on their own to help her graduate and, in turn, inspiring Barbara to become a future brain pioneer to help others just like her.
My sister and I thought “The Brain Pioneer” by Howard Eaton was an interesting book to read. It talked about the importance of improving the way people with learning disabilities take in information by creating special techniques to use as helping tools. Back when Barbara was young, not much research had been done on learning disabilities. She and her family had to create their own tools – tools that Barbara would later use in her very own schools all across the world! This to me was inspiring and I admire the dedication she had to learn. Barbara didn’t let her disability hold her back from accomplishing her dream of going to school and even though it was hard sometimes she didn’t give up.
My sister and I liked how her parents were supportive and offered the help she needed to complete school when no one else could. Because of this, she was able to attend college and start a career to help people just like her. This goes to show that a learning disability does not have to be something that prevents anyone from succeeding in school as long as they are offered the help they need. At times I found it hard to understand some of the topics covered in the story, but with the help of the glossary included at the end of the book, I was able to learn a lot of new things!
We recommend “The Brain Pioneer” by Howard Eaton!
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