Learning, and particularly learning to read, can be a challenging process. Sometimes, it just isn’t an easily acquired skill. Thank You, Mr Falker by Patricia Polacco is the poignant story of one student who struggled to read and the teacher who helped her to overcome her struggle.
Trisha has grown up in family of readers. Her grandparents read. Her mother reads. And her older brother reads. All around her Trisha sees people who enjoy reading, and she looks forward to the day when she too will be a reader. Her grandfather teaches her that reading is sweet like honey. Her family believed that reading is the pathway to knowledge, and knowledge is chased through the pages of a book.
Imagine Trisha’s excitement as she turns five and heads off to school for the first time. She knows that the time has come for her to learn to read. But, as her kindergarten year marches on, she does not learn to read like the other children. When Trisha looks at the page, she does not see words. She sees wiggly shapes that mean nothing. Though the promise of reading escapes her, she still enjoys school because of her love for drawing.
Her struggle to learn to read continues year after year, and eventually leads to her dislike of school. After the death of her beloved grandparents, Trisha moves with her mother and brother from Michigan to California. She once again hopes that this will be the year that she learns to read. Instead, she is met with the increasing sense that she is different than the other children. They begin to tease her and call her names due to her inability to read. Trisha begins to believe that their accusations are true. That is, until the new teacher, Mr. Falker, steps in.
As you read Thank You, Mr Falker by Patricia Polacco, you will see the transformation that comes about as a gifted teacher reaches out to meet a student exactly where they are. Mr Falker helps Trisha to overcome the hurdles that are preventing her from being able to read. Patricia Polacco vividly relates and illustrates this story and on the final page you learn that it is the autobiographical story of her own childhood. Triumphantly, she tells the story of a teacher who changed the trajectory of her life. As a result of his influence, she now writes and illustrates picture books for children.
There are many stories that portray positive school-room experiences. You can read previous reviews of other stories that touch on this theme. Understood Betsy shows us the transformation of a fearful child into a confident one. And Anne of Green Gables shows us the transformation of a mistake-prone orphan into an accomplished teacher herself.