To continue our monthly series of book lists, the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library would like to recommend the following books about Louis Braille in honor of the bicentennial of his birth.
January, 2009 – The Life of Louis Braille
Adult titles:
Triumph Over Darkness: The Life Of Louis Braille by Lennard Bickel. Born in France in 1809, Louis Braille stabbed himself in the eye with a tool from his father's workbench at the age of three. At the age of 15 he used a similar tool to create a code of raised dots punched through sheets of paper. Although his code opened the world of learning for the blind, Louis Braille died unknown and unhonored at the age of forty-three. Large Print book LP 6506.
Louis Braille: Windows For The Blind by J. Alvin Kugelmass. Biography of the inventor of the system of reading that opened the world of books to the blind. Though Braille's revolutionary innovation remained unrecognized during his lifetime, it is now used in every language and in every country throughout the world. For high school and adult readers. Braille book BR 3178. Cassette book RC 9596.
Louis Braille: A Touch of Genius by Michael Mellor. Biography of Louis Braille (1809-1852), a blind Frenchman who by age sixteen designed a code of raised dots enabling blind people to read and write easily. Discusses his schooling, his love of music, and the advantages of his tactile reading system. For junior and senior high and older readers. Braille book BR 16790. Cassette Book RC 63350.
The Reading Fingers: Life Of Louis Braille, 1809-1852 by Jean Roblin. First authoritative English-language biography of the French inventor of braille text. Covers Braille's family background and how he became blind. Discusses his education, love for music, and contribution to intellectual advancement through his raised-dot system for reading. Translated from French. Braille book BR 14555.
Louis Braille: El Inventor Del Alfabeto De Puntos En Relieve que ha Abierto las Puertas de la Cultura a Millones de Ciegos by Beverley Birch. English title: Louis Braille: Inventor of the Raised-dot Alphabet that has Opened the Doors of Culture to Millions of Blind Persons. Life and times of the nineteenth-century Frenchman who invented the Braille writing system for blind people. Born in 1809, he died in 1852 at age forty three. For high school and older readers. Spanish language. Braille book BR 11453.
Juvenile titles:
A Picture Book Of Louis Braille by David A Adler. Presents the life of the nineteenth-century Frenchman who was accidentally blinded as a child. Louis Braille originated the raised dot system of reading and writing used throughout the world by visually impaired individuals. Grades K-3. Braille book BR 14002. Print/braille book BRC 298. Ink Print book IP 7139. Cassette book RC 53405.
Louis Braille: Inventor by Jennifer Fisher Bryant. Recounts the life of Louis Braille, who, at fifteen, created a system of raised dots that allows blind persons to read and write. Describes Louis's childhood, the accident that caused his blindness, the support he received from his family, and his education, which led to his creation of the braille alphabet. Grades 5-8 and older readers. Braille book BR 11716. Cassette book RC 46863.
Louis Braille: The Boy Who Invented Books For The Blind by Margaret Davidson. A simple biography of Louis Braille, who invented an alphabet that enables blind people to read, when he was only fifteen. Grades 3-6. Braille books BR 9495 and BR 2070. Cassette book RC041325.
Louis Braille: The Blind Boy who Wanted To Read by Dennis Fradin. A beginning easy-to-read biography of the remarkable 19th-century French boy who lost his sight in an accident at age 3 and went on to invent the world's most popular reading and writing system for the blind when he was 15. Grades K-3. Braille book BRW 1093.
Out Of Darkness: The Story Of Louis Braille by Russell Freedman. Louis Braille accidentally blinded himself with one of his father's tools when he was three years old. In 1819, at the age of ten, Braille began attending the Royal National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris, where, by the age of fifteen, he had developed a system of raised dots for reading and writing that is now used worldwide by blind people. Grades 4-7 and older readers. Braille book BR 11319. Cassette book RC 44992. Ink Print book IP 7280.
Louis Braille by Stephen Keeler. Blinded at the age of three, Louis Braille was a hardworking, dedicated teacher at the Institute for Blind Youth in Paris. He developed a simple system of reading and writing for blind people. Although he died unknown and before his system was accepted, today it is used around the world. Grades 2-4. Cassette book RC 26767.
Touch Of Light: The Story Of Louis Braille by Anne E. Neimark. This biography conveys the warmth of Louis Braille's home life both before and after his accidental blindness at age 3, and his dissatisfaction with the raised-letter books then available. This dissatisfaction compelled him to develop the coded alphabet for blind readers by the time he was 15. Grades 5-8. Braille book BR 1423. Ink Print book IP 6247.
Link to previous Recommended Reads.