Ian's Walk: A Story about Autism

Bibliography

Lears, Laurie. 1998. Ian’s Walk: A Story about Autism. Ill. by Karen Ritz. Morton Grove, Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company. ISBN: 0807534803

Plot Summary

Julie cannot wait to go to the park and feed the ducks with her big sister, Tara. There is only one problem. Her little brother, Ian, who has autism, wants to go, too. At first, Julie does not want to take Ian with him but she knows that he really wants to go so she asks her mother if they can take him. Her mother tells them to keep a close eye on him. As they walk to the park, they stop in Nan’s diner, a fire truck rushes past, they stop to smell flowers at Mrs. Potter’s stand. Ian does not have the same reactions to all the sights and sounds that his sisters have, and Julie feels embarrassed by this. When they stop for lunch, Ian refuses all the available treats but insists on eating cereal that they have brought along. Julie waits with Ian as their big sister; Tara goes to get some pizza. Ian is standing beside Julie but when she looks away for a moment or two, he wanders off on his own. When Tara returns, Julie realized that he is gone. They ask several people if they have seen Ian but no one has. Julies then decides to stand still and try to think the way Ian does. She must try to see the world through his eyes in order to find him. When they hear the big, old bell begins to ring, Julie realized that the bell is Ian’s favorite thing in the park. They find Ian, lying under the bell making the big gong move back and forth. Julie realizes how much she loves Ian and that he is a very special person-no matter if he is different. On their way home, they walk the way Ian wants to. He lies on the sidewalk and lines up little rocks, stops to smell and sniff the bricks next to the post office, pause to listen to a sound that no one can hear but Ian and watch the fan in the diner until they are dizzy.

Critical Analysis

This is an excellent book about a young girl who has a brother with autism. Families affected by autism have challenges that most people do not understand. In addition, siblings often have extra challenges of taking care of their brother or sister. This often brings feeling of embarrassment and anger in addition to the feelings of love, tolerance, loyalty and responsibility. When thinking about cultural markers, it can be difficult to pinpoint exact cultural markers for the autistic spectrum. Every person who has autism is unique and is affected by in different ways. However, Julie does a good job of explaining some of the things that are symptoms of autism. Throughout the book, Julie explains that Ian’s brain does not work like other people. She explains that he sees, hears, smells, feels, and tastes things differently from other people. This is very true of people with autism. When Julie and Tara get hungry, they go to the food booths at the park. “When we go past the food booths, Ian won’t even look at the pizza, hot dogs, or soft pretzels. But he reaches into my pocket for the bag of left over cereal.” In addition to having specific food preferences, Ian seems to be in his own work and oblivious to other people including his sisters. However, at the beginning of the story, when Julie and Tara are getting ready for the park, Ian realizes that they are going to the park-and although he is nonverbal, he communicates to let them know he wants to go. He stands at the screen door and “raps his fingers hard against the screen and begins to whine.” Julie has developed an understanding of Ian’s communication skills and she realizes that although he is often in his own world, he wants to go with them. Another example of Ian being in his own world is when he is waiting with Julie for the pizza and “flaps his hands and pays no attention.”

Karen Ritz’s illustrations add beautiful details to the story. Ian looks like a normal child, which is true of most people affected by autism. The differences they have are not physical. It is the brain that is different. They show Ian’s sensory issues such as smelling bricks, lining up rocks, perseverating on the ceiling fan and flapping his hands.

This story helps readers to understand that siblings who have a brother or sister with autism often feel resentment, and are often embarrassed by their sibling. These are normal feelings because it is hard to deal with the effects of autism. Julies’ love and tender feels are also normal. No matter how aggravated she feels, ultimately she loves Ian and understands him enough to help him enjoy his walk. I would suggest this book to be read by teachers, assistants, caregivers, neighbors and relatives of anyone who has a child with autism. It certainly would make an excellent addition to the school library and other facilities that deal with disabilities and children of all ages.

Review Excerpts

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1998)
A note about autism precedes a very short first-person picture story expressing a bit about how it feels to have an embarrassingly "different" sibling. The young narrator is Julie, who is probably in an upper elementary grade or the first year of middle school. Julie is able to take responsibility for Ian at her mother's request while they go to the park. Readers see Ian's responses to specific sounds, sights, smells, textures, and tastes during the outing. These brief scenes showing examples of sensory perception and emotional response are realistic. So is Julie's alarm while Ian momentarily vanishes, her affectionate relief when she locates him, and her greater tolerance for his publicly displayed idiosyncracies afterwards.

Leila Toledo (Children's Literature)
Children who have siblings with disabilities are often embarrassed by the family member that is disabled. Autism presents a particular challenge since there is no physical affliction. They look "normal" but display odd behavior. Tara and Julie, Ian's big sisters, take their brother, who is autistic, for a walk. Throughout the day Ian hears, smells, tastes and sees things differently than his sisters, sometimes annoying them. At one point Ian wanders away. They panic, but Julie closes her eyes and tries to think like Ian. Is he at the water fountain watching the stream of water gush past his eyes? Or is it the bell in the center of the park? She finds him ringing the bell. The sisters display their frustration but also compassion for their brother. This story provides an insight into the world of autism and how it affects the healthy family members.

Connections

Dolly Gray Award for Children’s Literature in Developmental Disabilities, 2000.

Other Books by Laurie Lears:

Nathan’s Wish: A Story about Cerebral Palsy. ISBN: 9780807550366

Becky the Brave: A Story about Epilepsy. ISBN: 9780807506011

Ben has Something to Say: A Story about Stuttering. ISBN 9780807506332

http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/brain/autism.html

Habibi

Bibliography
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1999. Habibi. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. ISBN 9780689825231

Plot Summary

Liyana’s Palestinian father has always believed that he would someday return home. He has always wanted his children to understand both sides of their heritage. Liyana, her brother Rafik, and their parents, move from St. Louis, Missouri to Jerusalem just before she starts high school. They meet a large collection of family who are anxious to teach them about life in this area. She must learn to adapt to her new home, new languages, and life in another country. In addition, Liyana and her family must deal with dangerous situations caused by the strain between Jews and Palestinians. Liyana feels lost-like she is nothing for a long time. She is not quite American and not quite Arab. Her homesickness fades once she meets Omer, a Jewish boy who she quickly falls in love with. She then must face her family and hope they are accepting of this new friendship that is cultural taboo. Surprisingly, even her Sitti (grandmother) receives him with kindness and peace.

Critical Analysis

HABIBI, written by Naomi Shihab Nye, has won the Jane Addams Children’s Book award and the American Library Association Notable Books for Children. Nye brings authenticity to this story because she has lived both in America and the Middle East giving her first hand knowledge of the cultures within. Liyana’s story is one of growth, acceptance, and hope. Through Liyana’s gradual acceptance of her father’s homeland and culture, her strength, intelligence, and determination become apparent. Liyana and her brother are Arab-American. Poppy, her father was born in Palestine. He moved to the United States to escape the tensions between the Jews and Palestinians after the British were not in charge. Liyana tells of her father’s move through an essay written for her history teacher before her and her family moves. She tells of Poppy’s memories: “Everybody was mixed together. My father says nobody talked or thought much about being Arabs or Jews or anything, they just ate, slept, studied, got in trouble at school, wore shoes with holes in the bottoms, hiked to Bethlehem on the weekends and heard the donkeys’ feet grow fewer in the stone streets as the world filled up with cars.” (pg. 26). This may surprise readers-even I did not realize that Arabs and Jews lived next to each other and that the cultures were once mixed until I read this book. In the early chapters, Liyana says goodbye to America and the culture she will miss, the style of homes, foods like pretzels on the street, her shorts, and many of her childhood treasures, her friends and kissing. There are many cultural markers in this book. Language, character names, foods, celebrations, religious practices, and clothing are all used to show life in Jerusalem and in the village. Liyana is learning Arabic, but that is not the only language she is exposed to on a daily basis. She hears Hebrew, Arabic, Armenian and English. When Liyana meets Sitti, her grandmother, Sitti trills. Poppy explains it is her traditional cry. The women wear long dresses in bold colors and stitched with fancy embroidery and some of the village the men wear kaffiyehs. The older women cover their heads with a long white scarf and they wear plastic shoes. Food is a big part of family gatherings in the book. There are olives, grape leaves, rice, grilled onions, hummus, flat breads, lebne, and baba ghanouj, yogurts, and traditional treats that Liyana finds on her walks through the old city. In addition to cultural markers such as languages, food, and clothing, there are different religions represented in the book. However, it is not a focus of the book. The Abboud family is an Arab-American family. Many may assume that they would be Muslim but they are not. The family describes themselves as a “spiritual family”. They do not attend church regularly, but they seem to have Christian beliefs. When they first move to Jerusalem, they tour all of the major Christian sites in the area. Liyana’s mother becomes very emotional as she visits these places. The Abbouds do not think that any one religion is the only correct one. Liyana describes herself as belonging to God. Throughout the novel, Liyana speaks of the dangers and injustices dealt out to the Arabs by Jewish soldiers. The family is confronted with these injustices when soldiers destroy Sitti’s house. The soldiers came looking for a cousin and when they did not find him, they destroyed her bathroom. Another example of the tensions is when soldiers blame their friend Khaled for a bomb. They shoot Khaled, and jailed Poppy for trying to intervene. However, these injustices are quickly rectified and are not avenged. The Abbouds are not vengeful, which shows that not all Middle Easterners revengeful. Poppy is sad because he thought that things were better than when he left. Nye helps readers to understand that Jerusalem is full of regular people, not just the mourners, soldiers, and bombers seen on television. Most of them just want “the peace.” In fact, when Liyana’s father finally decides that she can bring her Jewish friend, Omer, to meet the extended family readers will be surprised how the family reacts. No one is suspicious of Omer as Poppy had feared. When Omer speaks to Sitti, expressing his desire for peace between the Arabs and Jews, she welcomes him and says, “We have been waiting for you a very long time.” She tells the story of a forbidden friendship between herself and a Jewish man-who she believes Omer is the angel of. Nye ends the story shortly after Sitti’s last story. Readers are left with an idea of hope. Hope that young people like Omer, Rafik, Khaled, and Liyana will all influence the future in a positive way-ending the violence and hatred in this region.

Review Excerpts

Booklist: “The story is steeped in detail about the place and cultures: food, geography, history, shopping, schools, languages, religions, etc. Just when you think it is obtrusive to have essays and journal entries thrust into the story, you get caught up in the ideas and the direct simplicity with which Nye speaks.”
School Library Journal “An important first novel from a distinguished anthologist and poet. Nye introduces readers to unforgettable characters. The setting is both sensory and tangible: from the grandmother's village to a Bedouin camp. Above all, there is Jerusalem itself, where ancient tensions seep out of cracks and Liyana explores the streets practicing her Arabic vocabulary. Though the story begins at a leisurely pace, readers will be engaged by the characters, the romance, and the foreshadowed danger. Poetically imaged and leavened with humor, the story renders layered and complex history understandable through character and incident. Habibi succeeds in making the hope for peace compellingly personal and concrete...as long as individual citizens like Liyana's grandmother Sitti can say, "I never lost my peace inside."

Connections

Other books written by Naomi Shihab Nye include:

Nye, Naomi Shihab. SITTI’S SECRET. ISBN 0689817061

Nye, Naomi Shihab. 19 VARIETIES OF GAZELLE: POEMS OF THE MIDDLE EAST. ISBN 0060097655

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/poetryeverywhere/nye.html

Lesson Plan for Grade 9-12 about how poetry can dispel stereotypes using poetry by Naomi Shihab Nye:

http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/poet.html