Thank You, Mr. Falker Critical Review

Thank you, Mr. Falker
Source: Polacco, Patricia. Thank You, Mr. Falker. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 1998.

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Thank You, Mr. Falker is an autobiographical text about a young girl named Trisha. Trisha is excited to start school and learn to read but when she gets to school she falls behind all of the other kids in reading and math. She says that the letters and numbers just all look like squiggly lines and they get jumbled together. Trisha becomes discouraged and feels like she is dumb. She gets bullied by the other students as they call her “dummy” and “toad”. When Trisha is in the fifth grade, a new teacher comes to town, Mr. Falker. He finds a way to teach Trisha after school and they practice reading every day. Trisha does not feel so dumb anymore and she begins to learn to read as she had always wanted to.
Patricia Polacco gives an “insider” perspective to the book as she writes about herself and her reading disability when she was a young girl. Polacco gives great insight to the character as she describes herself as feeling dumb or different. Her character as Trisha is a compelling character that is excited to learn to read but becomes discouraged when she cannot. When Trisha tried to read “all she saw were wiggling shapes…and when Trisha tried (to count), the numbers looked like a stack of blocks, wobbly and ready to fall. She just knew she was dumb.” (Polacco, p. 6)
“Trisha began to feel ‘different’ she began to feel dumb.” (Polacco, p.6) The author puts the word different in quotations. Different is something that many people can relate to because everyone feels different at times. I think that it is important to discuss this word and to have it used in the book. Polacco continues to talk about the word and uses other characters in the book to show the support that is given to Trisha by her family members and teachers. On page 8 of the book, Trisha asks her grandmother if she is different and her grandmother replies, “If course. To be different is a miracle of life.” (Polacco, p.8) The author is demonstrating the support that she was given for her reading disability and that being different is a good thing. This book is great for young children that find themselves struggling in school. They may feel that they are different from the other children but this book will help them to gain self-esteem and realize that we are all different and we can overcome anything with much practice and assistance.
I think that Polacco does a great job in making the reader understand her feelings as she struggles to read and wants to give up. The great thing about his book is the fact that she does not give up and she keeps trying. I think that all students could relate to this book in one way or another. Many students fall behind in certain areas in school or find one subject more difficult than another. They can relate to the feelings that Trisha feels as she struggles in reading and identifying numbers and letters. This is true for students with or without disabilities. All students may struggle at one point or another in their lives and it may frustrate or upset them. If students cannot relate to Trisha’s character and her struggle, they may be able to relate to being a bully as are many of the other children in the book. Children can develop a better understanding of the difficulty that Trisha has and realize that she is not dumb. They can understand that it is hurtful to these children and how it affects their lives. This book clearly demonstrates these issues and for children to discuss this book would be very beneficial to their learning about disabilities.
The teacher, Mr. Falker, is another key character in the book as he helps Trisha learn to read and he makes her feel like she is smart. He says, “You don’t see letters or numbers the way other people do.” (Polacco, p.30) This is another example of how Trisha is different but her teacher is accepting of it and he makes her feel as though she is special for it. He does everything he can to help her and he accepts her for who she is. Mr. Falker notices Trisha drawing and he says, “This is brilliant…absolutely brilliant. Do you know how talented you are?” (Polacco, p. 20) I think that it is important for children to see that having a support in their lives is important to being successful. Students can learn to support each other or find the person that makes them feel good or supports them.
This book brings many heartwarming feelings to the readers as it tells an autobiographical story. I think that it is crucial to have this book included in the curriculum to teach students about disabilities because they can easily relate to the characters and can learn and understand disabilities better.