My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay

My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay

Future Reflections Winter 2015 REVIEWS
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My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay
by Cari Best
Reviewed by Janna Stein
From the Editor: Janna Stein is a teacher of the visually impaired in the Chicago suburbs.
My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay
by Cari Best
Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015
40 Pages, Grades K-3
This story about friendship and self-confidence is a great choice for young, blind/visually impaired readers and their sighted classmates. A smart, feisty first grader, Zulay is visually impaired, but she doesn't let that get in her way. She reads and writes Braille, helps her friends with math, and goofs around at recess, just like the other children in her class. However, Zulay is apprehensive about using her long white cane. She worries that the cane will make her stand out as different from her classmates. She doesn't like the fact that Ms. Turner, her orientation and mobility instructor, only comes to see her, and not any of the other children.
Zulay's teacher announces that the class will be having a Field Day, and each student can choose to take part in an event. Zulay wants to run in a race around the outdoor track. Ms. Turner helps her use her cane to become familiar with the racetrack's layout. Then Zulay practices running the track with Ms. Turner as her guide runner. On Field Day, Zulay easily runs the track which she now knows so well, thanks to the exploration she's done with her cane. The story ends as she crosses the finish line, feeling free and confident.
This book offers a positive role model for children who are blind or visually impaired, and it helps to dispel some of the stereotypes that sighted kids may carry about blindness. Zulay is independent in her routines at school, and she mentions washing and peeling carrots by herself at home. She helps her friends instead of merely being helped by them. The reader never feels sorry for Zulay, not even when she struggles.
Many children with and without disabilities may relate to the frustration Zulay feels when her blindness makes her feel different. This book will help them understand that they are not the only ones who have felt this way at times. They will also get to see that frustrations do not last forever. Zulay learns that the cane, which made her feel different, actually gives her the freedom to do what she wants. This is a valuable lesson for many children who may feel apprehensive about using an adaptive tool such as a cane or assistive technology device.
As an added plus, the book's dust jacket is inscribed with a tactile version of the Braille alphabet. Many children's books include the Braille alphabet in printed form only. This book allows young readers to experience the Braille letters by touch as well as by sight.

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