Editor’s Note: This review was originally published in Seattle Book Review.
Tucked away in a less frequented part of a library, one book holds stories in a language that can only be known by touch. The story has felt invisible for a long time because library patrons pass by the shelf and pick other books to read. Until one day, a girl came by to open the book. She ran her fingers across the page to uncover the story through a tactile language of raised dots.
Author Jaime Gamboa and illustrator Wen Hsu Chen collaborate to deliver an uplifting and illuminating story that helps early readers understand the purpose and power of Braille. The striking illustrations bring Gamboa’s evocative prose to life, translated from Spanish by Daniel Hahn. A short backgrounder of the Braille language introduces the history and current use of Braille, a language now adapted into over one hundred and thirty languages. The book invites readers to understand the act of reading from the perspective of the visually impaired.
The book’s tone and content have an element of universality. I reviewed a hardcover illustrated version in English. Hsu has the admirable talent and skill to create a 2D illustration that features contours, texture, and shadows. There is a lot of promise for a possible adaptation combining Braille and written language on the same page while adding physical textures to the illustrated pages.
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| Illustrator Wen Hsu |
Tucked away in a less frequented part of a library, one book holds stories in a language that can only be known by touch. The story has felt invisible for a long time because library patrons pass by the shelf and pick other books to read. Until one day, a girl came by to open the book. She ran her fingers across the page to uncover the story through a tactile language of raised dots.
Author Jaime Gamboa and illustrator Wen Hsu Chen collaborate to deliver an uplifting and illuminating story that helps early readers understand the purpose and power of Braille. The striking illustrations bring Gamboa’s evocative prose to life, translated from Spanish by Daniel Hahn. A short backgrounder of the Braille language introduces the history and current use of Braille, a language now adapted into over one hundred and thirty languages. The book invites readers to understand the act of reading from the perspective of the visually impaired.
The book’s tone and content have an element of universality. I reviewed a hardcover illustrated version in English. Hsu has the admirable talent and skill to create a 2D illustration that features contours, texture, and shadows. There is a lot of promise for a possible adaptation combining Braille and written language on the same page while adding physical textures to the illustrated pages.
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