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Looking after Louis ISBN: 9781845070113
Dunbar, Polly and Ely, Lesley
Published by Frances Lincoln, 2004
Louis really likes to play football, but because he is autistic, he tends to run through the boys playing with his arms in the air, rather like a ballet dancer. This can irritate the boys, but because this is a class who really are trying to understand Louis and his different-ness, they learn to accept. Louis repeats everything that is said to him, so when Sam says 'Great game, Louis' when Louis manages to make contact with the ball, Louis repeats 'Great game' and 'almost smiles'. The class learns that each individual has different needs and different ways to learn, and they accept that Louis will be allowed to do things in ways that they won't. The illustrations show us very individual children interacting with each other, and the little girl telling the story says 'I think we're allowed to break rules for special people'. An excellent story about loving acceptance and showing us, too, that children often understand their friends needs even better than teachers. A book that should be in every classroom where there are children with any sort of learning problems.
Age: 6+