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In selecting literature connections for this diverse and complex
guide, we sought books that reflected upon and deepened the context
for one or more of the main activities. A number of the books
focus on the process of scientific research; others delve into
the experience of blindness; some examine the behavior of wolves.
There are also books that focus on the importance of learning
and sensory information for survival. We have included several
books that, while technically non-fiction, connect strongly to
the guide and are written in a literature-like narrative style.
Several biographies are also included.
We welcome literature suggestions from you and your students.
Your nominations will be considered when this teacher's guide
is revised.
Abel’s Island
Arrowsmith
Better Mousetraps: Product Improvements That
Led to Success
The Cay
Dear Dr. Bell…Your Friend, Helen Keller
The Disease Fighters
Eleven Blue Men and Other
Narratives of Medical Detection
Flowers for Algernon
Follow My Leader
Hatchet
Julie of the Wolves
Louis Braille
Lyddie
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Never Cry Wolf
The Problem Solvers
"Seeing in Special Ways:
Children Living with Blindness
The Seeing Stick
The Story of My Life
Timothy of the Cay
The Wise Woman and Her Secret
Maze
Abel’s Island
by William Steig
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. 1976
Grades: 3–5
Abel is an urban mouse who suddenly finds himself stranded
on a river island. Without wasting a moment, Abel begins to build
a boat to cross the river. As each new boat fails, he uses the
knowledge gained to build an ever better boat, thus learning from
his own experience. Each time Abel comes up with a method to cross
the river and is met with failure, he analyzes the situation and
builds on his idea to devise a new method. Thus, he learns from
his own experience—as students do in Activities 1 and 2 with
tactile mazes. Through trial and error, Abel solves the problems
of daily survival and the ultimate river crossing. This book also
illustrates a valuable lesson from Activity 3—the importance
of learning and sensory information to survival. Newbery honor
book.
Arrowsmith
by Sinclair Lewis
P.F. Collier & Son, New York. 1925
Grades: X–Adult
This book, by the noted American novelist, derives from the
same historical period as the Lash-Lure story, and relates to
both the Hexacarbon Solvent activities and the discussion of the
ethics of experimentation in Activity 9. The novel tells the story
of Martin Arrowsmith, who begins as a doctor, then becomes a researcher
against disease at a large medical institute. The author tells
us, "With all his amateurish fumbling, Martin had one characteristic
without which there can be no science: a wide-ranging, sniffing,
snuffling, undignified, unselfdramatizing curiosity, and it drove
him on." For Martin, life is a constant learning process,
both positive and negative, as he encounters great scientists
with principles and integrity, as well as corruption, bribery,
and deliberate experimental falsification. A major ethical issue
(among many) arises in the latter part of the book, as Martin,
supposed to be testing a vaccine on a Caribbean island, finds
himself in the midst of a deadly epidemic and abandons his controlled
experiments to give his vaccine freely to the population. Although
the spread of the epidemic is halted and he is hailed as a savior,
the vaccine's effectiveness is still unproved. Other preventative
measures, such as the eradication of rodents who spread the disease,
may have been responsible. Pondering the ethics of his actions,
he thinks to himself, "Men who have never had the experience
of trying, in the midst of an epidemic, to remain calm and keep
experimental conditions, do not realize in the security of their
laboratories what one has to contend with." The book ends
on a note that echoes the trial and error joy of scientific investigation,
as Martin chats with a fellow researcher: "I feel as if I
were really beginning to work now . . . This new quinine stuff
may prove pretty good. We'll plug along on it for two or three
years, and maybe we'll get something permanent—and probably
we'll fail!" The author acknowledges his debt to Dr. Paul
H. DeKruif, the scientist and author of the classic book, Microbe
Hunters, for creative collaboration, realistic detail about
how large laboratories function, and bacteriologial/medical information.
Better Mousetraps: Product Improvements
That Led to Success
by Nathan Aaseng
Lerner Publications, Minneapolis. 1990
Grades: 5–10
The book’s focus is on "improvers, refiners, and
polishers" and not on pioneers or trailblazers. To dramatize
the results of safety testing, Elisha Otis set up an elevator
at a big exposition in New York and had an assistant intentionally
cut the cable with Otis aboard! The safety device brought the
elevator to a halt in midfall. Getting heavy machinery to travel
over muddy ground was the challenge faced by Caterpillar Tractor
Company—what was learned in product development was applied
to tank technology in World War I. The chapter on Eastman Kodak
introduces the concept of a brand name, showing how Eastman promoted
the names "Kodak" and "Brownie." This book
illustrates how learning can be built up in a long-term way and
that one person’s idea can be developed by others. Also shows
the development of knowledge in society.
The Cay
by Theodore Taylor
Doubleday, Garden City, New York. 1969
Grades: 5–9
When the freighter on which they are traveling is torpedoed
by a German submarine during World War II, Phillip, an eleven-year-old
white boy, blinded by a blow on the head during the explosion,
and an old West Indian named Timothy are cast up on a very small
Caribbean island—a cay. This is the story of their struggle
for survival and of Phillip’s efforts to adjust to his blindness
and to understand the dignified, wise, and loving old man. Phillip
soon begins to use his other senses to perceive what his eyes
no longer do—he says, "I was learning to do things all
over again, by touch and feel." Ties in well with Activities
1–3. See also Timothy of the Cay, the sequel to this
book.
Dear Dr. Bell…Your Friend, Helen
Keller
by Judith St. George
Putnam’s Sons, New York. 1992
Grades: 4–6
This book outlines Helen Keller’s life and gives additional
information about the life-long influence that Alexander Graham
Bell had on Helen. When Helen’s father took her to a famous
eye doctor hoping the doctor could help, the eye doctor recommended
Mr. Keller talk to Alexander Graham Bell, a well-known and well-respected
teacher of the deaf. It was through Bell that Anne Sullivan came
into, and forever altered, Helen’s life. As with the autobiography,
from this book students will gain insight into how Helen learned
through her other senses (as the students themselves experience
in Activities 1–3).
The Disease Fighters
The Nobel Prize in Medicine
by Nathan Aaseng
Lerner Publications, Minneapolis. 1987
Grades: 6–12
In Activities 4–8 of the guide, students learn how humankind,
as a community, learns what is important for our survival and
what foods, cosmetics, and medicines are safe. This book describes
some of the major medical discoveries, such as the cure for tuberculosis
and the cause of malaria, made by scientific researchers who were
eventually awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine. For example:
frustrated by his inability to treat his patients, Dr. Robert
Koch, a country doctor in mid-1800s Prussia, focused his attention
on research rather than the practice of medicine. He knew of Anton
van Leeuwenhoek’s discovery of bacteria nearly 200 years
earlier, and of Louis Pasteur’s theory that diseases are
caused by bacteria and other microorganisms. Koch began to investigate
the disease anthrax in sheep and discovered that a rod-shaped
bacterium appeared in the blood of every sick sheep. After much
research, he was able to isolate the anthrax bacterium and prove
that it caused the disease. The laboratory procedures that Koch
developed were adopted by many other scientists and advanced the
study of microbiology, research, and medicine.
Eleven Blue Men and Other Narratives
of Medical Detection
by Berton Roueché
Little, Brown & Co., Boston. 1953
Grades: Adult
Though this is an older book, and therefore may be hard to
find, it is worth tracking down (call around to several libraries;
you’ll find it). The book is a collection of articles originally
published in The New Yorker magazine between 1947 and 1953; quite
a while ago, so some of the medical information may be seriously
out of date. But the unfolding of clues in each of the cases is
the important part. This is a collection of epidemiological mysteries,
much like the Legionnaire’s disease outbreak of 1976 in Philadelphia.
The intriguing title of the book comes from one of the cases presented—a
case in which eleven men are all affected by sodium nitrite poisoning.
Each of the men suffers from cyanosis—a bluing of the skin
resulting from an insufficient supply of oxygen in the blood.
Each of the cases in the book stands alone and could be read to
the class by the teacher or assigned as homework. The investigative
style through which each of the cases is solved closely parallels
the hexacarbon mystery of Activity 4 in Learning About Learning.
Flowers for Algernon
by Daniel Keyes
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego. 1966
Grades: 7–Adult
Through his own "progris riports," this book chronicles
the experiences of Charlie Gordon, a developmentally disabled
adult, who participates in an experiment designed to increase
his intelligence. From his early child-like writing through his
eloquent insights into human behavior and thought, the reader
can follow Charlie’s emotional and intellectual development.
The experiment does work—it turns Charlie into a genius—but
only temporarily. Several features of the book make it an excellent
literature connection to Learning About Learning: the fact that
Charlie is learning more and more, and at an accelerated rate;
the ethics of animal experimentation; the use of mazes to demonstrate
learning; and the fact that the results of the experiment on Charlie
may help others with learning disabilities.
Follow My Leader
by James B. Garfield; illustrated by Robert Greiner
Viking Press, New York. 1957
Grades: 5–8
After a tragic accident with a firecracker, eleven-year-old
Jimmy is blinded. Angry and certain he’ll never be able to
do anything again, Jimmy learns the importance of his other senses.
As his rehabilitation teacher tells him, "You have an eye
on the tip of each finger, one at the end of your white cane,
one more on the point of each shoe, and the one great eye in the
center of your brain. People don’t see with their eyes; they
see with their brains. They don’t feel with their fingers
or hear with their ears. When you touch something with your hand,
or when you hear a sound, the brain tells you what it is."
Connects well to Activities 1–3. A detractive aspect of the
book is its sexist attitude toward females, but it is still recommended
for the way it illustrates how Jimmy learns to use his other senses.
Hatchet
by Gary Paulsen
Bradbury Press/Macmillan, New York. 1987
Puffin/Viking Penguin, New York. 1988
Grades: 6–12
After the pilot of a single-engine plane dies of a heart attack,
the sole passenger, thirteen-year-old Brian, is left to land the
plane then survive alone in the forested Canadian wilderness.
With nothing but the clothes on his back and a hatchet to help
him, he slowly learns how to provide fire, shelter, and food for
himself. Much of what he learns is from observing the animals,
birds, and fish with whom he shares the forest. In all, he spends
54 days in the wilderness. In the ways Brian becomes more observant
and learns from the world around him, this book connects to Activities
1–3 of Learning About Learning, and as Brian learns skills
for survival, it connects to Activities 4 and 5.
Julie of the Wolves
by Jean Craighead George; illustrations by John Schoenherr
HarperCollins, New York. 1974
Grades: 6–9
Thirteen-year-old Miyax, runs away from her terrifying husband
to walk across the Arctic tundra to the sea, intending to board
a ship bound for the modern world of her San Francisco pen pal
who calls her Julie. Close to starvation when she encounters a
pack of wolves, she remembers her father’s important lessons
of the old ways and carefully observes the wolves, learns and
copies their nonverbal language, and is eventually accepted as
a member of the pack. The opening section of the book is rich
with descriptions of wolf behavior as well as details about the
tundra and its life, thus connecting strongly with Activities
3 and 5 of Learning About Learning. Newbery medal winner.
Louis Braille
by Beverley Birch
Gareth Stevens Children’s Books, Milwaukee. 1989
(part of the "People Who Have Helped the World" series)
Grades: 5–9
In Activities 1 and 2, the students make tactile mazes and
talk about how limited sensory input makes learning more difficult.
But due to the invention of the raised-dot alphabet by Louis Braille,
the world of books, and therefore learning and knowledge, became
available to people with impaired vision. This book tells the
life story of the 19th-century Frenchman, blinded at age 3, who
was determined not to accept the idea that blindness must be a
prison without books. Braille’s invention was based on a
system for printing books containing embossed letters developed
by Valentin Haüy and a system using dots and dashes to express
whole sounds developed by Captain Barbier for secret night writing
by soldiers. Braille’s lifelong dedication to perfecting
his "little system" enabled millions of people with
impaired vision to enter a different life because they could read,
write, communicate, learn, and create—they could take their
rightful place in society as cultured and educated human beings.
Lyddie
by Katherine Paterson
Penguin Books, New York. 1991
Grades: 6–10
This is the story of Lyddie, a poor farm girl in 1840s Vermont
who, in search of a better life, is forced to work in a textile
mill. There she makes many friends and is exposed to new ideas
and new ways of life. One of her friends introduces Lyddie to
reading and the joy of learning. From the lint-filled air of the
mill, her friends and then her sister, who all work in the mill,
develop bad coughs and other health problems. There are labor
protests for better working conditions at the mill and many of
Lyddie’s friends leave their jobs because of health problems.
Lyddie herself loses her job from defending one of her friends
from the improper advances of their lecherous overseer. Unsure
where she fits in the world, Lyddie goes on to college. A good
literature connection for discussions of health and working conditions
in factories (hexacarbon solvent mystery in Activity 4), how earlier
labor movements shaped today’s working conditions, the need
for health and safety regulations (as in Activity 5), and the
impact of technology on societal change.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
by Robert C. O’Brien; illustrated by Zena Bernstein
Atheneum, New York. 1971
Grades: 4–12
A mother mouse, Mrs. Frisby, learns that the rat colony near
her home is actually a group of escapees from an NIMH research
institute. These rats, injected with DNA and other substances,
have acquired great intelligence, both from the injections and
through increased stimulation. They have learned to read and write,
and are planning to develop their own civilization. This book
presents an opportunity for reflection about the benefits and
costs of learning by conducting research with animals, as in Activity
9 of Learning About Learning, and touches briefly on learning
from environmental stimuli as in Activities 7 and 8. Newbery medal
winner.
Never Cry Wolf
by Farley Mowat
Atlantic Monthly Press/Little, Brown & Co., Boston. 1963
Bantam, New York. 1984
Grades: 6–Adult
Wolves are said to be killing too many of the Arctic caribou,
so the Canadian Wildlife Service assigns a naturalist to investigate
these changes. Farley Mowat is dropped alone onto the frozen tundra
of Canada’s Keewatin Barrens to live among the wolf packs
and study their ways. This story of Mowat, his interactions with
the wolf packs, and his growing respect and understanding for
the wild wolf, will help students expand their knowledge of wolves
beyond that given in the wolf pup activities of Activities 3 and
5.
The Problem Solvers
by Nathan Aaseng
Lerner Publications, Minneapolis. 1987
Grades: 6–12
Insight and curiosity, the willingness to try something new,
and using all one’s senses are all valuable qualities to
possess for learning. In Activities 1–3 of the guide, students
learn how individuals learn. And in Activities 4–8, the students
discover ways in which the scientific community learns. This book
discusses how individuals with insight and curiosity were able
to form successful companies by finding creative solutions to
problems. The names of these companies and the products they started
are now famous—Evinrude, Kitchen-Aid dishwasher, Prudential
Insurance, Polaroid, John Deere, and others. It is hard to imagine
a time during which these familiar products did not exist, but
as the introduction of the book states "a person with a creative,
inventive mind might discover a new product where someone else
just sees an annoyance.
"Seeing in Special Ways: Children
Living with Blindness
by Thomas Bergman
Gareth Stevens Children’s Books, Milwaukee. 1989
Grades: 6–Adult
Interviews with a group of blind and partially sighted children
in Sweden reveal their feelings about their disability and the
ways they use their other senses to help them "see."
Large black and white photos of the children accompany the interview
text. The book also contains frequently asked questions about
blindness, one of which debunks the myth that the other senses
are automatically better in persons with vision impairments. It
explains that instead the other senses must be developed because
they are more necessary. Connects well to Activities 1–3
of Learning About Learning and is unique because it discusses
blindness from the children’s perspective.
The Seeing Stick
by Jane Yolen; illustrated by Remy Charlip and Demetra Maraslis
Thomas Y. Crowell, New York. 1977
Grades: K–6
This story, set in ancient Peking, relates how an old man
teaches the Emperor’s blind daughter to see. With the old
man’s carved seeing stick the princess learns how to use
the eyes in her fingertips. Although this book is best suited
for a younger reader, it is included here for its central message
that although a person may be deprived of one sense, life can
still be rewarding when they learn to use their other senses.
This importance of senses is discussed in Activities 1–3
of Learning About Learning.
The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller and John Albert Macy
Doubleday, Garden City, New York. 1905
Grades: X–Adult
As described in the preface, the book is divided into three
parts: the story of Helen Keller; her letters (1887–1901);
and a supplementary account of her education, including passages
from the reports and letters of her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan.
By assimilating all three parts, the reader gets a full picture
of Helen’s life from several different points of view. While
only a few students would read this book from cover to cover,
essential passages could be assigned as homework or read to students
to help them see that even though Helen was, at first, impaired
from learning by physical barriers, she had an active mind. With
caring, loving, and patient instruction from Anne Sullivan, Helen
was able to learn volumes of information through her senses of
touch, smell, and vibration (just as students experience learning
through other senses in Activities 1–3).
Timothy of the Cay
by Theodore Taylor
Harcourt Brace, San Diego. 1993
Grades: X–X
Having survived being blinded and shipwrecked on a tiny Caribbean
island—a cay—for four months with an old West Indian
man named Timothy, eleven-year-old white Phillip is rescued and
hopes to regain his sight with a delicate operation. Alternate
chapters follow the life of Timothy from his days as a young cabin
boy to the days when his dream comes true and he is the captain
of his own ship. Though not as closely connected to Activities
1–3 of Learning About Learning as The Cay, Timothy of the
Cay does discuss learning through sensory input, vision impairment,
survival, and wisdom. It also "fills in" The Cay as
it tells the further story of Phillip—showing how his life
changed after meeting Timothy—as well as telling the previous
story of Timothy—how he became what he was when Phillip met
him.
The Wise Woman and Her Secret
by Eve Merriam; illustrated by Linda Graves
Simon & Schuster, New York. 1991
Grades: K–3
A wise woman is sought out by many people for her wisdom.
They look for the secret of her wisdom in the barn and in her
house, but only little Jenny who lags and lingers and loiters
and wanders finds it. The wise woman tells her, "…the
secret of wisdom is to be curious—to take the time to look
closely, to use all your senses to see and touch and taste and
smell and hear. To keep on wandering and wondering." Though
this book is intended for a younger reader, it is listed here
because it captures the essence of what is meant by discovery,
student-centered, use-your-senses learning, and, as such, serves
as a fine accompaniment to Learning About Learning.
An "Electronic" book (available on the Internet)
Maze
by Christopher Manson
Henry Holt & Co., Inc., New York. 1995
Grades: 5–Adult
Based on the book Maze: A Riddle in Words and Pictures by
Christopher Manson (Henry Holt & Co., Inc. 1985), this new
dimension in literature can be found on the Internet at
http://www.obs-us.com:80/obs/english/books/holt/books/maze/index.htm
As the Maze Directions say, "This is not really a book.
This is a virtual space in the shape of a book…a maze. Each
numbered page depicts a room in the Maze. The doors in each room
lead to other rooms. Your challenge is to find your way from room
1 to room 45 and then back to room 1 using the shortest possible
path. There are any number of clues in the drawings and in the
story to help you choose the right door in each room." The
reader goes into a room simply by clicking on one of the doors
in the drawing. While not highly imaginative, this book is engaging,
represents a new direction for books, and invites the reader to
"use your head." Connects well to Activities 1–3
where students discover that learning relies on information from
the world around us that we perceive through our senses.
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