Literature Review

Literature Review

Future Reflections Jan/ Feb/March 1985, Vol. 4 No. 1
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LITERATURE REVIEW
A CANE IN HER HAND
by Ada B. Litchfield

Pictures by Eleanor Mill

Chicago: Albert Whitman & Company, 1977
(Review by Doris M. Willoughby)
This book is especially helpful in showing the
value of cane travel for persons with some useful
sight.
Vocabulary is about second- or third-grade reading
level, but the story is so well-written as to be
interesting to older youngsters, and it could of
course be read aloud to younger children. The
central character appears to be about nine years
old.
Valerie had had impaired vision for some time,
but always had been able to find her way around
easily. Suddenly things were different -- she ran
into doors and tripped over rocks.
She worried about her inability to see things, but
protested "I'm not blind!" However, one day Miss
Sousa, who had been coming to Val's school to
show her new ways of doing things, produced a
long white cane. Although shocked at first, Val
soon came to understand why, as shown in the
following quote. Note that the story is told from
Valerie's point of view:
"Oh, no! I shouted...I m not blind. I
don't want it.
Miss Sousa didn't get mad. She said,
"You know, Val, you're getting a lot of
bumps lately. It's because you don't see
some of the low things in your way.
Your hands and arms don't reach far
enough."
Well, that was true. It's no fun running
into things.
Before long Val was again walking by herself in school and on the street. She learned that her
friends could accept the cane as OK; that it is not
a toy or a weapon; and that some people have
very outmoded attitudes about blindness.
At the conclusion of the book Val lists some of her
favorite activities -- swimming, painting, music,
etc. She adds, "I wash dishes, too -- ugh!"
If I had helped to write this book, I would have
had her traveling in the school hallway a good
deal sooner, and I would have included Braille.
However, actual cane travel is begun quite soon,
and it is clearly shown that a cane is useful both
indoors and outdoors. In regard to Braille, the
question is actually left open: no one says she
should not use Braille. One might assume that
next week Miss Sousa will bring out a Braille
instruction book and introduce it in her same
friendly, matter-of-fact way.
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