LS 5603 Biography - Out of Darkness The Story of Louis Braille

Bibliographic Data
Freedman, Russell. 1997. Out of Darkness The Story of Louis Braille. Ill. by Kate Kiesler. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 0395775167

Plot Summary
The story of not only how Louis Braille created the language that blind people use to read, but how he became blinded, and how he lived in a world where blind were reduced to beggars.

Critical Analysis
Although I am someone that does not particularly care for nonfiction or biographies, Out of Darkness The Story of Louis Braille, captivated me. Freedman wrote a simple yet encompassing biography of Braille’s entire life in a style that made me feel as if I was reading a fiction story. This is a perfect biography to get those uninterested in biographies to read them.

The facts of Braille’s life are fascinating, from how he was blinded all the way to his last days teaching blind children to read. He was a talented pianist, as were several blind students from The Royal Institute for Blind Youth, and always striving for a better life.

Freedman beautifully crafted a story of the many steps Braille went through to turn a complex military code into the Braille we know of today so that it does not seem as if the reader is just reading a chronology of these steps. The rejection and difficulties that Braille faced while trying to create Braille are not downplayed; rather these events become a strong base of the story.

The sketches Kiesler drew of Braille, his fellow students, and the machines that created his language are an asset to the book. It is especially helpful to have the diagram of the stylus used to create Braille along with the description in the book to understand how complex writing was for the blind at that time.


Review Excerpts
Kirkus Reviews “Blinded at age three by a freak accident, Braille was sent to the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris at the age of ten. His first lessons were in ``embossing,'' where raised impressions were ``read'' by tracing their outlines with a finger. This slow, cumbersome process was sanctioned by the French government, but a retired artillery captain's speech on sonography--a military code based on dots and dashes punched into strips of cardboard--inspired Braille to develop his own system of dots based on the letters of the alphabet. Readers know the ending, but the somber story of this gifted, generous boy is a compelling one. Rigidly rendered black-and-white illustrations make the setting of the story real; useful diagrams of Braille's alphabet and the slate and stylus used to write are included. With warmth and care, Freedman deftly delineates a life.”

School Library Journal “Freedman's gift for making his subjects both accessible and intriguing comes through wonderfully in this book.”

Connections
Connections could easily be made to readings about Helen Keller, who also was born able to see (and hear) but lost these abilities due to illness as a toddler. Keller benefited from the Braille language later in life as others still do today.

Classrooms where blind children are included could use Out of Darkness as an introduction to Braille for the sighted students.