Mandy

Mandy is a young girl who is hearing-impaired. This story tells of things Mandy enjoys in her life and the things she dislikes. It also tells how Mandy uses her other senses. The story is about Mandy going out at night during a storm to look for her beloved grandmother's lost pin. The pin is special to her grandmother because Mandy's grandfather had given it to her on their 25th wedding anniversary. Mandy finds the pin and makes her grandmother very happy.Teacher Notes: Mandy would be a wonderful book to read to remind students that people are different and that we should respect that diversity. This would be a good read-aloud book for kindergarten and first grade. Second and third graders could read it on their own.

Mandy is a really unique picture book dealing with the issue of deafness. It is a heart warming story about a young deaf girl and her grandmother. It is filled with profound statements expressing Mandy's "Deaf" perspective of the hearing world she lives in. While ending a dance in the kitchen with Grandma, Mandy describes "...one of the silly rules of the Hearing World. It makes more sense to stop dancing when you wanted to stop, instead of letting that box (radio) decide." Later, she wonders how the sunlight sounds as it passes through the trees. She concludes that the woods must be a very loud place to be, which is why she and Grandma never see any other people there! This story really makes you stop and think how a young Deaf child might view pieces of the Hearing world. It also makes you think about different ways Hearing people use auditory cues to perceive their world.The art work in Mandy is touching and enhances the story with its beauty. One of the things I enjoy most about this book, is that it exposes the readers to Deaf Culuture while immersing them in a sensitive story about two special people. Mandy and Grandma share such fun together, dancing, cooking walking in the woods. However, when Grandma loses a very special pin that Grandpa gave her before he died, it was Mandy who saved the day!As a teacher of the Deaf, I read as much literature as possible on this subject to share with students, families, teachers and all interested parties. This book on Deaf Culture is inspiring because of how well it is written and because it is the only piece of literature on this subject that I have read that does NOT focus on what the Deaf can and cannot do, or describe a day in the life of a Deaf person. It tells a heartwarming adventure, weaving into the story inspiring perspectives on Deafness that really make the reader/listener think. In my mind, this is one of the best children's books I've read about Deafness. It is not one that is well-known, but it is a real treasure!