Review of Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant

Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant is an engaging picture book biography of the life of Louis Braille. Told from the perspective of young Louis Braille, who lost his sight at the age of five, the story engages readers and draws them in. Readers can relate to the story and imagine what it would be like to have been Louis Braille, who just wanted to read in a time when books were not available for the blind. The perseverance of this child inventor was incredible; Louis Braille took the idea of dots and dashes created for army communications, and ended up creating an entire new code of raised dots, allowing the blind to communicate simply and effectively. Braille’s perseverance for over five years culminated in an invention that changed the world.

Image

Image of Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant. Kulikov, B. (2016). [Cover image of Six dots]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28186006-six-dots

Evaluation

The language in Six Dots brings the story of young Louis Braille to life. Bryant uses several techniques of showing, not telling. She uses onomatopoeia frequently; this makes perfect sense because Louis Braille’s world is a hearing world, not one of sight. “Clang, bang, kish, kish – that was Papa in his shop. Swoosh, swish, swoosh, swish -- long-skirted ladies hurrying to market” (Bryant, 2016, p. 8). We explore Braille’s new world alongside him, through the sounds he hears. Bryant also uses repetition to show that Braille was determined despite being told no. “Do you have books for blind children?” Braille asked repeatedly. The answer was always, “No, Louis… I’m sorry” (Bryant, 2016, p. 12-13). This reinforces Braille’s search for books for the blind and then the devastating discovery that they simply did not exist. Throughout the book, the language brings Louis Braille’s story to life for the reader; we can relate to Braille losing his sight and his desperate desire for books that led to his invention of a new coding system using just six raised dots.

The illustrations by Boris Kulikov serve to reinforce the text of Six Dots. At the start of the book, the background of the pages is white with paintings of different scenes filling different parts of the pages. When Louis Braille loses his sight due to an accident, the background of the page turns from white to black. The change is immediate and pairs perfectly with the text. On a white page, the words read, “The infection spread to my other eye, until. . . “ (Bryant, 2016, p. 6). The very next page is black. The sentence continues with “. . . I could see nothing at all” (Bryant, 2016, p. 7). The stark contrast between light and dark illustrates exactly what Braille has lost: his sight. As a reader, we move from light to dark with young Braille. When he cries, “Where is the sun?” (Bryant, 2016, p. 7), the page is dark and we feel his loss along with him. Though we can see shadowy figures that represent the images that Braille sees in his mind’s eye, we know his sight is gone forever and that he can see nothing. Throughout the remainder of the book, the illustrations alternate between pages of light and dark, reminding the reader that Braille is living in a seeing world but that he has lost his sight.

The mixed media illustrations in Six Dots also do an excellent job of establishing the setting of the story. Set in France in the early 19th century, Boris Kulikov’s illustrations clearly show readers that Louis Braille’s world is not their own. From the image of small Louis Braille counting eggs in a basket to the image of the Marquise writing a letter with a quill pen and sealing the envelope with a wax seal, the images convey a world that is different than ours. This is not the digital age, where we have computers and the like to assist the blind. Braille’s creation of a new system of communication is shown as a remarkable breakthrough. Through Kulikov’s illustrations, we can more fully imagine the world of Louis Braille.

Response

I found Six Dots incredibly informative and intriguing. I didn’t know much about Louis Braille’s life, other than that he invented Braille, and Bryant’s story of his life is utterly compelling. In the face of a tragic accident that took his sight, Braille never gave up. His desire for books led him to go to a school for the blind in Paris, and that desire fueled his work to create a code of raised dots so that the blind could read. When others were willing to give up, Braille persisted, despite long hours and numerous setbacks. Six Dots is an excellent book for children because it emphasizes perseverance and what one can do with an idea. Braille’s invention changed the world for both the seeing and the blind. I enjoyed reading the book and thought the art was fantastic; I especially like the way the illustrations tied in with the text, especially the movement from light (the seeing world) to dark (the world of the blind). Overall, I really enjoyed this book and learned so much. This book would be useful in the classroom to introduce biographies or inventors, and it is sure to engage readers, young and old.

Conclusion

Six Dots is an interesting, informative picture book biography that is excellent for kids of all ages. The story is engaging; the author brings the world of Louis Braille to life for the reader through her use of onomatopoeia and repetition. The book’s illustrations supplement and extend the text, showing us the setting and clearly illustrating the change in Braille’s life, as he goes from having sight to living in a dark world. This book is an excellent read-aloud for elementary school students on up; it would be especially useful when teaching about inventors or biographies. 5 stars.

Citation

Bryant, J. (2016). Six dots: A story of young Louis Braille. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Kulikov, B. (2016). [Cover image of Six dots]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28186006-six-dots