brother, Eddie Lee, Christy and her friend set out for the pond to search for frogs, but Eddie follows them and soon threatens to spoil their day, in a sensitive portrait of a Down's Syndrome child.
Be Good to Eddie Lee ANNOTATION Although Christy considered him a pest, when Eddie Lee, a boy with Down's Syndrome, follows her into the woods, he shares several special discoveries with her.
FROM THE CRITICS Publishers Weekly In a starred review, PW called this story about a boy with Down's syndrome "a rarity for its potential to entertain, educate and encourage deeper consideration for others." Ages 4-8. (July)
School Library Journal K-Gr 2-On the first day of summer vacation, Christy follows her friend JimBud to a nearby pond, looking for something to do. When Eddie Lee, a child with Down's syndrome, follows them, Christy tells him to stay home, and JimBud tries to chase him away. Only when Eddie Lee leads the girl to a hidden place to show her frog eggs and water lillies does she fully grasp that everyone is special and has unique, individual gifts. Cooper's attractive, full-page borderless scenes of the rural South- waist-high, straw-colored weeds; a clear, rippling stone-bottomed brook; hazy green woods and water-are painted in oil wash, but have the smudgy appearance of oil pastel. Clearly the focus of the illustrations is the insightfully realistic portraits of Eddie Lee, and it is Cooper's artful accompaniment to the text that truly brings out the author's positive message. Berniece Rabe's Where's Chimpy? (Albert Whitman, 1988) is aimed at three to five-year-olds, as is Cairo Jasmine's Our Brother Has Down's Syndrome (Annick, 1985). Be Good to Eddie Lee is welcome for slightly older children, but mostly for the realism it exudes rather than the somewhat contrived story.-Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
BookList - Elizabeth Bush Christy begins to see and appreciate the beauty of her rural environs under the guidance of Eddie Lee, a young neighbor with Down's syndrome. At first, Christy only tolerates Eddie Lee's companionship at her mother's insistence; she would rather spend her long summer days exploring the woods with pal JimBud. But Eddie Lee persistently follows the pair and ingeniously demonstrates his superior knowledge of and sensitivity to nature. He shows Christy how to catch a salamander, where to find frog eggs and a hidden lake of water lilies, and, most importantly, when to leave creatures undisturbed. A single scene in which Eddie Lee and Christy compare their distorted images in a rippled pond seems unnecessarily heavy-handed, but the portrayal of Eddie Lee as a wise and independent youngster easily overcomes this flaw. Impressionistic oil wash paintings fairly glow with the sunshine that filters through the wooded scenes, a technique that also softens the features of Eddie Lee and his friends, diminishing their physical differences. This title will undoubtedly be valued for its Down's syndrome theme, but detailed references to the pyracantha bush, the belted kingfisher, and the "beaver-gnawed birches," supported by Cooper's luminous paintings, also recommend it as a nature story.
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