My Friend Isabelle
by Eliza Woloson, illustrated by bryan gough
My Friend Isabelle by Eliza Woloson and illustrated by Bryan Gough focuses on the friendship of Charlie and Isabelle. Both kids are the same age, but Charlie knows that though this is true, they are different in many ways. Charlie notices that he is tall and Isabelle is short, he runs fast and she takes her time, and he knows a lot of words and Isabelle is sometimes hard to understand. Charlie's mom tells him that those "differences are what makes the word so great" (11). After he learns this, Charlie begins to share stories about all the fun things he and Isabelle do together. He says that they play every Friday, dance to Stevie Wonder, pretend to go shopping, drink apple juice and eat Cheerios, go down the slide, and hold hands. Charlie concludes his story by saying that, "Life is more fun with friends like Isabelle" (26).
My Friend Isabelle by Eliza Woloson is a very sweet story. The reader is right away notified that Charlie and Isabelle are different, but that those differences do not stop them from being friends and having fun together. I liked this book because it sends the message that people can still be friends if they are different, without specifically identifying a disability or other difference between the characters until the end. I think that by doing this, Woloson has opened up the book to any audience needing or wanting to read about acceptance of any area, not just Down Syndrome. At the end of the book, the reader learns that Isabelle is, in fact, a real girl who has DS and that she is actually the daughter of Eliza Woloson, which shows the authenticity of the text and that the friendship between Charlie and Isabelle is real. The two children just want to make the world a more tolerant place, and I think this is very possible through reading their story in My Friend Isabelle by Eliza Woloson.
The back cover of the book also provides extra resources for information on Down Syndrome, so that readers can learn more about Isabelle's disability.
Woloson, Eliza. My Friend Isabelle. Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House Inc., 2003. Print.
About the Author
-Founder of the Global Education Fund (nonprofit that improves the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children around the world through education)
My Friend Isabelle by Eliza Woloson is a very sweet story. The reader is right away notified that Charlie and Isabelle are different, but that those differences do not stop them from being friends and having fun together. I liked this book because it sends the message that people can still be friends if they are different, without specifically identifying a disability or other difference between the characters until the end. I think that by doing this, Woloson has opened up the book to any audience needing or wanting to read about acceptance of any area, not just Down Syndrome. At the end of the book, the reader learns that Isabelle is, in fact, a real girl who has DS and that she is actually the daughter of Eliza Woloson, which shows the authenticity of the text and that the friendship between Charlie and Isabelle is real. The two children just want to make the world a more tolerant place, and I think this is very possible through reading their story in My Friend Isabelle by Eliza Woloson.
The back cover of the book also provides extra resources for information on Down Syndrome, so that readers can learn more about Isabelle's disability.
Woloson, Eliza. My Friend Isabelle. Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House Inc., 2003. Print.
About the Author
-Founder of the Global Education Fund (nonprofit that improves the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children around the world through education)