Product Description
Poems about the early life of Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller's mentor and friend. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Seeing,Hearing, Language, Poverty, Teacher, Helen Keller
Denise Bergman's "SeeingAnnie Sullivan" is an apt title; I didn''t feel as though I was reading her poems; rather it's as if I was seeing scenes connecting me "like a hyphen to the world" of Annie Sullivan dating from her childhood through her beginning period as teacher to Helen Keller. Ms. Bergman's use of language is the equivalent of a film produced by a gifted cinematograher andmotion picture director.

Even the first paragraph of her prefaceto her book indicates that:

"As the train sped south, the young woman (Annie Sullivan) turns her head to watch the fields andtowns pass by.The windows are grimy from years of cigarand cigarette smoke and caked on the outside with dust from the clay earth.Some don't open. Some don't close.Her father had once told her that back in Ireland landlords charged rent by the number of windows, so families boarded them up and lived without air, without light."

The last poem in "Seeing Annie Sullivan"entitled NEXT SET OFWORDS should be a
classic for allteachersof the young to read--think, know, perhaps,suppose, forget, remember, expect,slowly, cautiously, possibly become more than the "next set of words."





"
... Read more

Book Description
Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind student to ever attend an American college, but graduating from Radcliffe with honors was only one of her many accomplishments. Her writing and speeches tell the poignant story of a woman who struggles to overcome personal adversity, while working as an advocate for the physically challenged. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

GREAT ADDITION TO A WONDEFUL SERIES
As with the other books in the series "In Their Own Words," the author has given us another great good and useful book for young women and men.The Keller story is in itself, quite inspirational and Mr Sullivan has been able to capture this spirit quite well. The constant use of quotes allows the reader to feel they are getting the facts right from the source and not from some dry accedemic source.The black and white photos are used quite effectively.The book holds the reader's interest and along with inspiring the reader, he or she actually learns something.Highly recommend this one.

Awesome!
I re-read this book a few nights ago and although it is not a story-tale fiction book like I ussually read it is still very enjoyable and extremly educational. It teaches you the amazing story of a girl named Helen Keller who lost her ability to see and hear at a very young age.It takes you through her life during which she accomplishes so many spectacular things and conquers challenges that no one thought she could.She stars in a movie, she learns to read and write and she goes through college and becomes an honor student and all along the way she is guided by her loyal friend Anne Sullivan.I ussually dont read biographys but I'm glad I picked this one up! I encourage you to read it because it makes you realize that even though someone like Helen Keller cant see or hear, it makes them no different than other people and they are perfectly capable of accomplishing anything as long as they set their mind to it.This book is very inspiring and it really makes you realize what a remarkable person Helen Keller was. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Rounds out the body of Keller/Sullivan literature
First, I will mention that I have the 1985 re-print of the book, purchased in 2003 from Amazon."Teacher" was originally published in 1955.This reprint has a plain blue cover, and it did not have a dust jacket.The photos appear to be photo-copies of originals.

One of the reasons that this book is significant is because of personal clues that it reveals.For example, Annie had a ferocious temper - even with Helen.She was a perfectionist who pushed Helen to do or try to do many very difficult things. She wanted Helen to speak like a hearing person and pushed her to practice extensively.Helen tried, but because of her severe hearing loss, was never able to cultivate a voice that was as clear and "sweet" as Annie wanted it to be.Annie also was determined that Helen should be the best at everything she attempted including the best scholar at Radcliffe College.She forbade Helen to read books that were of questionable literary value.Helen, however, did not seem to suffer from these pressures in a lasting way - maybe due to her naturally accepting and gentle nature.

Another reason that this book is important is that it shows how and what Helen thought about her life and Annie.Both Annie and Helen were very gifted in the use of language.This shared modality fostered and colored their communications and their vision of life.It became their means of earning a living in the forms of lectures and writing.

Helen's writings about her "Teacher" show that she adored, respected, worried about and loved Annie.She mourned the fact that Annie did not receive more of the credit for Helen's success. This book makes clear, on the other hand, that the teacher had an extremely apt student.It was a partnership between two women who loved one another, who were both very bright, who had very different temperments, and who became a family.

There are two other must reads for the Annie Sullivan/Helen Keller scholar.Both have more and better photos of Helen and Annie.One is "Anne Sullivan Macy" by Nella Braddy Henney.Braddy was a contemporary and friend of Helen and Annie.This book provides a very sympathetic version of their lives."Helen and Teacher" by Peter Lash is probably more objective.It shows them in a somewhat less heroic way.Together these two biographies provide a rather complete picture of Annie and Helen as they were. ... Read more

Book Description
The true story of the dedicated woman, Anne Sullivan Macy, who became Helen Keller's teacher and lifelong friend. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

Good Boigraphy If You Don't Want Too Much Detail
This is an excellent biography if you want a good amount of information about Annie Sullivan but not too much. It isn't a simple one page or two page list of facts but it won't go over ever-single detail in Annie Sullivan's life. After all, it's only 153 pages, hardly a novel. It's well written but not a difficult read. It really tells about Annie Sullivan's life, not just the time she spent with Helen Keller. For example, it talks a lot about her childhood and the time she spent in the Perkins Institution. In fact only half of the book is spent talking about her time with Helen. The first half is spent telling about Annie's struggles with her disabilities. I recommend this if you are looking for a quick, yet engaging read about Annie Sullivan.

pretty good,it needs more detail
Helen Keller's teacher was a very interesing book.The book is about Annie Sullivan ( Helen Keller's teacher) as a young girl.This biography discusses and observes how Annie from ayoung age goes blind from a disease she contracted when she rubbed her eyes and scrathed her cornias.She goes on to school and learns to read braille because she couldn't see.She has a very tough and hard life. She had surgery on her eyes and it was successful. She could see. She then, finished school and went to teach Helen. She could deal with the same tantrums Helen displayed because she herself acted that way out of frustration. This book taught me that it is a lot of hard work to teach a kid. You have to have a lot of patience. I recommend this book because it explains how people have to work for their accomplishments. This book had a lot of information on Annie Sullivan. This book was sad because Annie Sullivan didn't have a good childhood. There was lots of disappointments and sadness in her life. She overcame so many obstacles and ended up being an inspirational leader for Helen. I hope you will read this book and learn about Annie's childhood.

Wow this is a great biography
Hellen Kellers Teacher was a great book.I liked it because it had a lot of dialouge and lots of interesting facts I had never known That were about Annie her teacher.Annie was blind when she was little so she knew what Helen felt like.Most people concentrate on Helen but this is all about her teacher.I would recomend this to any 3rd 4th or 5th grader.

Swell book on a special good person!!!!
FINALLY!!!! A book on one of society's greatest hereos, Anne Sullivan!Oh, boy, was her childhood a NIGHTMARE!!!!Oh, she was so strong to endure so much; she endured more pain in twelve years than most human beings endure in her lifetime.Poor Anne!It's her dignity & courage that keeps her going throughout poverty, her dad's alcoholism & abuse, her mom's tragic death, her own lifelong battle with trachoma & being blind, her brother's horrible death in the poorhouse, the terrible conditions in the poorhouse...wow, and to think she survived that all & grew up to reach out to Helen Keller & other handicapped people!Wow, were her cousins, John & Statia so stupid to dump her & Jimmie in the poorhouse; I wish I could just blast those two idiots for not understanding that they needed love & support, not to criticize Anne & put her down.Well, it was their loss since Anne battle her problems & grew up to be a loving, wonderful person to be proud of.The books goes through her arrival at Perkins, her difficulty dealing with her wounded feelings when other students make fun of her & when a teacher humiliates her, then her working hard & graduating valedictorian of her class.The part with Helen also changed her life & I'm glad they found each other since their relationship blossomed into a beautiful lifelong friendship.The part after the Breakfast Table Battle where Anne struggles & wins at getting Helen to eat with a fork is touching as it describes how Anne went up to her room afterward & cried.Poor Anne didn't realize how out of control Helen was! I found Arthur, James, & Kate a little shallow & short-sighted; after Anne opens the world of language for Helen, at first they fell all over her with praise since she'd "tamed" Helen so she'd be easier to handle, but I get the feeling that they, esp. Mr. Keller felt threatened by Anne & the fact that Helen had a closer bond with her than with them. I like how it went into how their relationship deepened over the years & became almost like a mother-daughter bond.Anne had her heart broken so many times throughout her life, yet I think Helen was one consistant light in her life.One thing the book left out was Anne's disastrous short marriage to John Macy (who, from what I've read in other books, was a real jerk who broke her heart, cheated on her & was jealous of her & I think even hit her).I would have liked to have read that there, but I guess since this was more of a teen-or-kid book, they didn't want to get into the sordid details of that.Anne stayed true to herself to the end & encouraged Helen to do so too, much to the chagrin of the rest of the Kellers.The best gift she gave Helen was her freedom & independence.I thought it was really wonderful that Anne wanted Helen to be even independent of her, since once Anne got old & became permanently blind, she wanted Helen to continue her happy, productive, independent life long after she was gone.It is such a good lesson of pushing yourself to be free, since once Anne died, Helen did just that...lived a free, independent life even without Anne & continued working on behalf of handicapped people everywhere.As the last sentence in the book says, "Annie hadn't failed." She sure didn't'; she really was a success story. WAY TO GO, ANNE SULLIVAN! CONGRATULATIONS, ANNE!

Good Book
This is a very good book.I read it for a project i was doing on social studies about one of my hero's.I was doing extra credit and did two heros, Helen Keller and Anne Sulivan.This book helped me imensly.I would recomend it for anyone who is doing a project on either Helen Keller or Anne Sullivan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Excellent
I read one of the books about Helen Keller when I was nine years old, and I was hooked, at that age I could not put the book down, I actually memorized, taught myself the hand sign chart in the back of the book. I highly recommend this book.I am purchasing this book for my niece for Christmas, she loves to read. When you think you been short-cutted in life, read this.Then ask your self do you have it that bad?

The dealf, blind, and mute girl.
Helen Keller had a bad illness when she was only nineteen mouths old.She lived,but the illness left her blind, deaf, and mute.At the age of five her mom and dad wrote a school that has blind and deak kids there.A teacher came and didn't get along with Helen at first, but later thay become the best of friends.This is a good book for anyone who would like to know what it is like to be blind, or deaf or even both at the same time.This is a relly good book and I think that anyone who will read it will like it.

Helen Keller
...It's about a girl that is blind, deaf, and dumb. (As in can't talk) But later when she got a teacher named Anne Sullivan, she learned to do lots of things. When Helen was ten years old, she learned to talk. But still could not hear. I learned that if you are blind, deaf, or dumb, you could still do lots of things. I think you would like this book too.

I think all different kinds of people would like this book because people whoeverlikes biographies would like this book too.

A GOOD INTERMEDIATE BIOGRAPHY
This book covers Helen Keller's life from her precocious babyhood wherein she greeted people with "how d'ye" and "tea, tea, tea" to her impressive adulthood as a crusader for persons who are blind.

Helen became blind and deaf after an extended, unidentified illness she suffered at 1 1/2.Unable to see, hear or speak, Helen communicated by a series of rudimentary signs and showed great precocity in learning to fold clothing and recognizing her own.She was also unruly and given to fits of temper, which was understandable considering her lack of access to ready communication.

When Helen was 3 months off 7, her now famous teacher, Annie Sullivan was hired to work with her.The redoubtable Ms. Sullivan taught Helen the manual alphabet and from her stellar progress at identifying familiar objects, taught her Braille as well.Helen's progress is nothing short of spectacular and she makes an impressive academic showing at the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston.

I liked the fact that this book did not dwell on that now tired scene at the water pump when Helen learns after having "water" spelled onto her fingers that "all things have a name."Instead of gasping and losing speed after the now overworked water pump scene, this biography picks up speed and the reader is treated to following Helen's academic progress at Perkins and later as a Radcliffe alumna.

This book glosses over Helen's radical socialism during her adulthood and also glosses over the challenges she and Annie faced as they matured together.It's a nice biography, but you do end up wanting more.

Good kid and Well-behaved
You'll feel interesting the first capter and want to read the next chapters. Introduction the book, it attractives read over and over until you can memory the book feeling boring and can think about yourself and askyourself. Good kid, well-behaved and many people love her HelenKeller,"From Tragedy to Triumph" by Katharine E. Wilkie.HelenKeller was good kid and tried to speak and spelling when she was child. She also good student in high school and college. Her parents love her.When she met any one they love her.Growing uo, she was good lady, shevisited and encouraged people who blind, deaf, handicapper.... She wasgreat person and famous. From the book, I remind myself when I was childand the book also helping children try to become good kid and well-behaved. Ithink the audience who from 10-14 age, can read this book. Thebook purpose helps children in America to become good kid and learn manythings form people who is great person.If you want to know more informationor more knowledge Helen Keller what did she do?, you should read thisbook;aspecilly children. ... Read more

Book Description
Tells the inspirational tale of this spirited crusader.

In this groundbreaking new series, DK brings together fresh voices and DK design values to give readers the most information-packed, visually exciting biographies on the market today. Full-color photographs of people, places, and artifacts, definitions of key words, and sidebars on related subjects add dimension and relevance to stories of famous lives that students will love to read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Traversing a Dark Valley
"Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." ~Helen Keller

The DK Biographies introduce children to famous and influential individuals, although I personally also enjoy reading these tiny biographies. It is a great way to gain insight into a life and Helen Keller is a symbol of overcoming limitations. She refused to live her life shut away in a dark room and instead she taught herself to speak many languages, traveled to many countries and loved to read.

Helen Keller's life is truly inspirational and although her life started out in such a bleak way, she overcame many obstacles and eventually exceeded everyone's expectations. She was actually world-famous by the age of 10. It is truly amazing to see the articles she wrote at age 12.

After we read about the initial illness that left her blind and deaf, Leslie Garrett takes us on a beautiful journey through Helen's life. She was quite the little prankster as a child and also had a great sense of humor about life in general. She also had a temper and this is where Annie Sullivan enters the picture.

We learn about Annie Sullivan's life and how Helen and Annie meet.Leslie Garrett explains how Helen learns about life and how to live in a world where few people understand her. Annie shows extreme patience in very difficult situations and eventually teaches Helen how to deal with everyday situations. She also teaches her how to read and later on attends college classes with her to spell out the lessons into her hand.

Leslie Garrett's writing style is perfect for this story and this is definitely one of my favorite DK biographies. After reading this story, you will never again think about life in the same way.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." ~Helen Keller

~The Rebecca Review
... Read more

Amazon.com
Helen Keller would not be bound by conditions. Rendered deaf and blind at 19 months by scarlet fever, she learned to read (in several languages) and even speak, eventually graduating with honors from Radcliffe College in 1904, where as a student she wrote The Story of My Life. That she accomplished all of this in an age when few women attended college and the disabled were often relegated to the background, spoken of only in hushed tones, is remarkable. But Keller's many other achievements are impressive by any standard: she authored 13 books, wrote countless articles, and devoted her life to social reform. An active and effective suffragist, pacifist, and socialist (the latter association earned her an FBI file), she lectured on behalf of disabled people everywhere. She also helped start several foundations that continue to improve the lives of the deaf and blind around the world.

As a young girl Keller was obstinate, prone to fits of violence, and seething with rage at her inability to express herself. But at the age of 7 this wild child was transformed when, at the urging of Alexander Graham Bell, Anne Sullivan became her teacher, an event she declares "the most important day I remember in all my life." (Sullivan herself had once been blind, but partially recovered her sight after a series of operations.) In a memorable passage, Keller writes of the day "Teacher" led her to a stream and repeatedly spelled out the letters w-a-t-e-r on one of her hands while pouring water over the other. This method proved a revelation: "That living world awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away."And, indeed, most of them were.

In her lovingly crafted and deeply perceptive autobiography, Keller's joyous spirit is most vividly expressed in her connection to nature:

Indeed, everything that could hum, or buzz, or sing, or bloom, had a part in my education.... Few know what joy it is to feel the roses pressing softly into the hand, or the beautiful motion of the lilies as they sway in the morning breeze. Sometimes I caught an insect in the flower I was plucking, and I felt the faint noise of a pair of wings rubbed together in a sudden terror....

The idea of feeling rather than hearing a sound, or of admiring a flower's motion rather than its color, evokes a strong visceral sensation in the reader, giving The Story of My Life a subtle power and beauty. Keller's celebration of discovery becomes our own. In the end, this blind and deaf woman succeeds in sharpening our eyes and ears to the beauty of the world. --Shawn Carkonen Book Description

Customer Reviews (65)

One of the greatest books of all time
Most moving and inspiring book I have ever read. It should be required reading in all elementary schools throughout the world. I could go on and on, but that should suffice.

James Donovan
Del Mar, CA

Other Books
A deaf dumb and blind girl, but no pinball.Helen Keller, bereft of the senses that your average person is able to utilise, has to learn other ways to communicate. She is instrumental in forming systems that will lay the foundation to enable other people so afflicted to do the same, with the work she does herself, and with her tutors.

Well worth a look.

Sightless and unable to hear, but hardly mute.
Helen Keller gives a sweetly innocent rundown of her life in this brief book.It's just enough to get a glimpse into her well publicized transformation into a girl lost in her own inability to communicate to a wonderfully prolific soul;a person who changed the world.She is disarming and self aware and isn't afraid to gloss over a little bit of the struggle to paint a journey of searching that led to many rivers of experience.It's a charming book and if one is curious about Helen Keller it is best to 'hear' the words from the author than another source.

A continuous page-turner
The Story Of My Life was a life-changing book for me. The reason for this is because I never thought that a person who had no power could do so much and have so much of it. As soon as I read this book it made me feel that no matter how small you are you can accomplish your dreams and goals. My opinion about this book is that it taught me that even if you are disabled, like Helen Keller you can still do many things. I think what Helen Keller did was outstanding because even though she was blind, deaf, and only a kid she did some indescribable things. I think this book will be a page-turner for people in middle school and up.This has inspired me to do anything and believe that I can accomplish many goals that I have.

The Story of My Life
"Helen, you are charged with plagiarism of a whole book. Your sentence is to never see Miss Sullivan again."The Story of My Life is an autobiography by Helen Keller. Helen Keller was a blind and deaf girl who came over all these odds by learning how to read lips with her fingers, how to speak, how to read Braille, and understand things like a normal child. Her teacher throughout her life was Miss Sullivan. She taught Helen Keller just about everything she could when it came to communicating. Because of how she overcame her handicaps, many people, including celebrities, wanted to meet her and have her as a friend. I recommend this book if you like learning about amazing people.

Helen Keller wrote this book on her own.If you can think about how hard it would be to write a book when you are deaf and blind, then you will be amazed at how she did this.She wrote a book in her early childhood, but apparently it was read to her when she was younger and it was very close to the same thing, so the institution she was going to accused her of plagiarism.She could not see Miss Sullivan again as long as Miss Sullivan worked for the institution.So, Miss Sullivan quit her job and moved in with Helen and her family and taught her until she was older.

Helen Keller got to do many things a normal child would not.She got to travel the world with Miss Sullivan because everybody wanted to meet her and celebrities would pay to fly her out to where they lived.She also had to go to the institution for the deaf and blind, which was far away.Many people there were also amazed at how Miss Sullivan had taught Helen to communicate.

If you read this book, also note how many things Miss Sullivan taught Helen.Miss Sullivan taught Helen how to communicate with everybody.Even though Helen has been deaf since she was 3 months old, she learned how to pronounce words so she could talk to people.The hardest thing was probably to teach her to read Braille, which would have been hard because she would not understand the letters at first and what they meant.

Helen Keller is one amazing person. She overcame two very harsh defects, being blind and deaf. Any person having just one of those defects may never overcome these illnesses but she did. She not only overcame them she was taught how to communicate even though it was along and struggling process. Helen Keller is an amazing person and you should read the book she wrote.


-Jaycee Elliott ... Read more

Book Description
Deaf, blind, and mute twelve-year-old Helen  Keller was like a wild animal. Scared out of her wits  but still murderously strong, she clawed and  struggled against all who tried to help her.  Half-blind herself but blessed with fanatical dedication,  Annie Sullivan began a titanic struggle to release  the young girl from the terrifying prison of  eternal darkness and silence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (43)

Thank you.
This was a favorite of mine as a small girl... came the day after Christmas, but was ordered very late during the holiday season.. so now its a birthday gift... thank you.
Book is in perfect condition.

Aaaarrrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!
An inspiring story, but a difficult book to trudge through.I never have enjoyed reading the scripts for modern plays - it's so much better to watch them being performed. I'm not sure that either of the Hollywood films has really captured the essence of the story, but watching them is certainly more enjoyable than reading this book.The only way we could get my daughter through it (for a 6th grade assignment) was by reading it out aloud and giving the characters ridiculous accents (for example, Captain Keller became a pirate).Only get this book from the library, and even then, only if you have an assignment to do !

Thank you
Thank you very much/ this item was in perfect condition when I got it, it was received in a very timely matter, this was one of my favorite stories when I was little and I am glad to have it!
Thank you

The miracle worker
I chose this book "The miracle worker" because I knew it was going to be about the adventure of Helen Keller and the way she learned to communicate with her hands because she was blind and deaf.My feelings about the story after I read it was that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything.Yes, this book was what I thought it would be.I felt the same way about the book after I read it. My feelings didn't change because it turned out the way that I expected.

This story is about a teacher who had one of the same problems as the child she was teaching so she knew what her student was going through.The teacher and the child become the worst of enemies but then realize how much they really care about each other.They go through rough times but at the end everything falls into place.It is a true story of Helen Keller and Annie.The parents go through a difficult time watching the teacher, Annie, teach Helen as if she were a regular child. They think that the teacher is not a very good teacher.In the beginning, they want Annie to leave but later on they see that Annie is going to be the one who gets through to Helen.

Two reasons why I like this book is because it shows that anything is possible if you try hard enough and that you can get through to the most stubborn person in the world.

I think that this book is for the age of twelve years old and up. I chose twelve years old and up because you need to be able to understand what you're reading.Twelve year olds also have a good variety of vocabulary.So I suggest that you read this book because it will give you a great feeling inside!

I would give this book a five out of five rating because it is a very good book!!!

This book is about a girl who finds herself with the help of a teacher, everyone should read this book and I promise you that you will not waste your time!!!

good book
This is a very good book about the truth of a little who is in bad shape and then made it throuth with help. And parents who are willing to give for their little girl who is having a hard time and can't see or hear and speak. ... Read more