Synopses & Reviews
Knees shows the ups and downs of life with dyslexia. We have done this book in the style and size of a chapter book so that younger children and older children at low reading levels can read what seems to be an older child's book.
We cover dyslexia’s symptoms and the reasons school can be hard for dyslexics. We talk about some famous people who had or have dyslexia.
The book is endorsed by the head master of a school where many of the children have dyslexia. He has dyslexia himself.
Review
The publishers of
Knees: The Mixed-Up World of a Boy with Dyslexia have taken special care to make Vanita Oelschlager’s book readable. According to a note in the back, a special typeface called Lexia Readable was used, and the matte paper is extra-heavy to prevent words from the previous page from showing through.
In rhyming couplets, a fourth-grader named Louis explains that “Words come out backwards/And I don’t know why.” He is glad for his special teacher, who tells the class about others who have overcome dyslexia, like Albert Einstein and Walt Disney.
The inclusion of Magic Johnson is important, because, as Louis’s dad says: “We’re all good at something. You just have to find it.” Louis tries a few things that don’t work out, but after a summer growth spurt, he finds he’s quite the basketball player. His prowess on the court gives Louis the confidence to try harder at school and the determination to live successfully with dyslexia.
Knees (128 pages, softcover) costs $9.95 and is recommended for readers ages 6 to 10. All proceeds will benefit the Lawrence School with campuses in Sagamore Hills and Broadview Heights; it serves students like Louis. The coloring-book-style illustrations are by Youngstown native Joe Rossi.
Barbara Mcintyre
Review
For the first time in a long time, I read a book that is nearly perfect. Akron Beacon Journal
Synopsis
Knees shows the ups and downs of life with dyslexia.
About the Author
Vanita Oelschlager is a wife, mother, grandmother, philanthropist, former teacher, current caregiver, author and poet. She is a graduate of Mt. Union College in Alliance, Ohio, where she currently serves as a Trustee. Vanita is also Writer in Residence for the Literacy Program at The University of Akron. She and her husband Jim received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in 2006. She won the Congressional ‘Angels in Adoption’ Award for the state of Ohio in 2007 and was named National Volunteer of the Year by the MS society in 2008. She was honored as 2009 Woman Philanthropist of the Year by the Summit County United Way. In May 2011, Vanita received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from University of Mount Union.
Prior to her publishing and writing career, Vanita taught school for 19 years and then helped her husband with his company, Oak Associates. Mother of two daughters, stepmother to a son and daughter, she is grandmother to seven.