Thank You, Mr. Falker

Polacco, Patricia. Thank you, Mr. Falker. New York: Philomel Books, 1998.

Thank You, Mr Falker, by Patricia Polacco, is an inspiring picture book about Polacco's struggles in school due to a learning disability. It is a book which honors the teachers who take the time to notice and assist the students who need extra help. In the beginning, the book describes Trisha, the main character's, love for books. When she started school her greatest desire was to learn to read. As time went by Trisha noticed how the kids in her own class began to read, but she was still struggling. Over time the achievement gap between her and the other students in her class began to grow and "Trisha began to feel 'different.' She began to feel dumb" (p. 6). Children began to tease her and she no longer wanted to go to school; this was until she met Mr. Falker. He praised her for her skills in drawing and helped her understand that she didn't see letters or numbers the way other people do. In the end, through much support from Mr. Falker, Trisha learns to read.

This book explains how one teacher can make a difference in a child's life and therefore this book is truly inspirational for teachers. This book also works to explain to students the differences between people and their learning styles. It does this while also explaining to students that it is okay if some people need extra help in school because all people learn differently. In Trisha's case she learned differently because she saw letters and numbers differently that other people do. Trisha, though she worked hard and wanted to learn to read, struggled due to her learning disability.

The interesting thing about this particular book is that it is autobiographical because it is Patricia Polacco's depiction of her school life as a child and her struggle to learn to read. Today, through the book Thank You, Mr. Falker, she openly discusses being dyslexic, disnumeric, and discraphic and how her struggles in school caused her to be bullied and feel dumb. Polacco brings personal insight into the book because of her own experiences as a young child causing her to be an author who is an insider on the topic of learning disabilities.