Tuesday, March 19, 2013

SPAGHETTI IS NOT A FINGER FOOD AND OTHER LIFE LESSONS by Jodi Carmichael_Review


Review of Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons by Jodi Carmichael
5 stars

This chapter book for middle grade readers taught me a lot about what it is like to be a young child with Asperger’s Syndrome. Connor is a very smart little boy, he might even rate at genius level, and he possesses a wealth of information (especially about dogs and geckos). What he doesn’t have are acquired social skills, and he tends to see the world through a tunnel of perspective: he wants so much to impart all his knowledge about animals and so forth, but he doesn’t understand that not everyone wants to learn what he knows, nor that sometimes (for example, the classroom, the school hall, the principal’s domain, and the school library) there are rules, and we all must follow them. That is a really difficult lesson for Connor to learn, because he has to process all this sensory input through his syndrome, and then learn to act “properly.” He is really good-hearted, but that doesn’t always translate to good behavior, though he tries.

I hope that this book will find a wide readership, and be shared by parents, grands, and caregivers (and teachers!) with their charges. It’s also appropriate for middle grade readers to peruse for themselves, and lavishly illustrated.

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