This story is about a young girl with a prosthetic limb and how she fits in at her new school, written in journal style letters from the child who is asked to show her around and shows an endearing insight into how children interact with disabilities in an honest no holds barred way.
Another great Creative Commons book from Pratham and Storyweaver, this book is Level 4 for older children and fluent readers.
Dearβ¦ well, you know who you are. And itβs not like youβre ever going to see this letter. Miss told me that I had to be your mentor and show you around because you are a new student. I didnβt know what a βmentorβ is, so I looked it up in the dictionary. Anyway, she didnβt tell me anything about that. Ali and Gaurav and Sumi and Rani, they kept asking me about it when we were going home from school. I told them that I didnβt know what they were talking about, but thatβs not true. How can I not know?
See, you made me lie to my friends.
Yours sincerely, Me
Hi again, Ma says that it is not good to stare at people, but I can see that everyone stares at you. They stare at me too because I have to hang around with you and be your βmentorβ. Why did you come to our school? Why couldnβt you continue going to whatever school you went to earlier? Do you know what happened yesterday? Gaurav, Ali and two of their friends from Class VII cornered me after school to ask about you-know-what. They took my bag and wouldnβt give it back. Then they threw it into the thicket by the side of the road and I had to scramble down into the mountainside to get it. I tore my shirt and Ma was angry with me. This is all your fault. Me
Hello, I keep telling them that they can ask you whatever they want to know. Whatβs the point of asking me? How am I supposed to know why you have that thing or how it works? To be really honest, I canβt say Iβm not curious myself or that I donβt have the same questions the others are asking me. Yes, I noticed it the first day when you came into the classroom. I saw how you did everything with one hand and how your left hand never moved. At first I couldnβt tell what the problem was. Then, when I came closer, I saw that something wasnβt quite right. It looked weird, like it was covered in plastic or something. Then I thought it was a toy hand. It took me some time to understand. Also, I saw what happened at lunch. See you, Me
Hello, My oldest sister, the one whoβs studying engineering in Delhi, called today. I told her, βThereβs a girl in my class and she has a fake hand,β and she said that the term is βprosthetic handβ. Listen, I have some advice for you. You may be new and all, but if you want people to stop staring at you and talking about you, you have to stop standing in the corner all the time. Why donβt you play with us? Why donβt you come on the swing? Everyone loves the swing. Itβs been two weeks, and you can jolly well come by yourself. I am not going to be your minder for ever. Sometimes I donβt know what to say to you. Me
Hi again, After the lunch incident that day, Iβve been watching you. Iβm just curious. Is it weird to have one hand? Is it only your hand or is your entire arm fake, sorry, prosthetic? Today, Sumi, Gaurav and I walked to school together. They were playing a game they made up called One-Hand Challenge. The rule is, you have to do things with one hand. Like, packing your bag or buttoning your shirt.
Sumi couldnβt tie her shoelaces and she forgot about it and tripped and fell. She got a cut on her chin. Miss saw it and, even though she put some antiseptic cream on it, she scolded Sumi for being careless. βYou canβt run around in the mountains with your shoelaces untied. What will happen if you fall while going home or something?β I think adults worry too much. Yours truly, Me
Hi, Do you know what a coincidence is? Itβs like when you talk about something and the same thing happens sometime later in a completely unrelated way. In my last letter, I was telling you about Sumi and the shoelaces, and then, today, I saw you tying your shoelaces. Wow, that was awesome! I think you did it faster than I can do it with two hands. If you were my friend, I would challenge you to a shoelace-tying race. Or no, maybe I would ask you to teach me how to do it with one hand. I have to confess, I did try to tie my shoelace with one hand when I got home. But itβs impossible. How do you do it? Maybe Iβll ask you tomorrow. Curious, Me
Hi, So, after what you said, Iβve tried to do a lot of things with only one hand, but itβs so difficult! I still donβt get how you do it, like having a bath, wearing your clothes, packing your bag. Since that day at lunch, I did realize that you have to do some things differently, but itβs not like you donβt do almost everything the rest of us do. Listen, Iβm sorry about what I said earlierβ¦ about playing with us. I guess you were just feeling shy. And also about coming on the swing. I tried and itβs hard to get your balance if you donβt hold it with two hands. But youβre great in the jungle gym, even if you donβt hang from the bars, and you can run really fast, even faster than Ali, who won the first prize at Sports Day. Bye, Me
Hello! That movie was really funny, no? I laughed so much that my stomach hurt and it was like I was crying. I always like it when they show movies in school. It means no classes. Last time, before you came to our school, they showed this movie about a tiger cub who got lost. It was quite scary, mostly because it was a true story. Later someone found it and managed to get it back to its family. True stories like that are called documentaries, did you know that? Tiger cubs are cute, no? Last year, there was a puppy near our house. It was very cute too, but it grew up and then it wasnβt so cute any more. Got to go now! Me
Hello, hello! Did you know? I was so surprised when I saw you on the bus. I had no idea my father worked in the same place as yours! But Iβm so happy you came for the office picnic, because last year when they took us, there were no other children my age and I got really bored. Okay, Iβm really tired, so Iβm going now. See you in school tomorrow. Me
Hi, I think I should warn you, Principal Sir becomes slightly insane whenever Annual Day comes along. He might yell at you β he yells at everyone β so donβt take it personally. My ma says that heβs under a lot of pressure because our Annual Day performance reflects on him. Iβm not sure what that means, but he does look stressed out. Did you see his hair? It was like he touched a loose wire and got an electric shock! Though I think it was very mean of Rani to put a frog in his chair. Okay, Iβm going now before he catches me writing this letter! Me
Hey, Your new hand is so cool! No offence, but the old one was a bit boring. It was justβ¦ there. The new one is like magic, and you can move the fingers and grip with it! I hope you didnβt mind that I asked to shake hands. I just said it before I could think. Maybe tomorrow we can do some experiments to find out if you can lift stuff with it. Oh! I just realized, the last couple of letters I wrote to you, I didnβt mention your prosthetic hand at all. Itβs like I forgot all about it and wanted to tell you so many other things. The funny thing is, Iβm not that curious about your hand any more. I donβt know why. Your friend, Me
THE FRIEND-O-METER QUIZ How good are you at helping people fit in? Take our Friend-o-Meter quiz to find out!
1. Your teacher asks you to show the new student in school around. What do you feel? a. Fantastic! A new friend! b. Why canβt they figure things out themselves? c. Uh ohβ¦
2. A girl in your class walks with a limp. The others laugh at her. What do you do? a. Nothing β itβs none of your business. b. Tell her to ignore them β theyβre mean. c. Ask your classmates to imagine if they were different.
3. Your new classmate is having trouble with his lessons. What can you do? a. Tell the brainiest student in class to lend him her notes. b. Tell the teacher β itβs her job to help him. c. Ask him if you could help him with his work.
4. The new girl in class is rather shy. She doesnβt play with anyone. What can you do? a. Let her be β sheβll join in when sheβs ready. b. Call her over and make her join in the games. c. Go and sit next to her β maybe sheβll start a conversation.
Get your score: Q1. a β 1; b β 2 ; c β 3 Q2. a β 2; b β 1 ; c β 3 Q3. a β 3; b β 2; c β 1 Q4. a β 2; b β 1; c β 3 Now add it up. If youβve scoredβ¦
4-6 points:You are a born friend, always ready to lend a hand. You donβt wait for people to ask for help β youβre already there, waiting to give it to them.7-9 points:You are an independent person and feel that people should be too. But that doesnβt mean you donβt care β you just donβt want to force anyone. 10-12 points:You might be a little shy, but you are kind-hearted too. Youβll do whatever you can indirectly to help others and make them feel at ease
<End of Text From A Helping Hand>
Or read along the video below
About the Author:
Payal Dhar is an Author from India, He is also a freelance writer and editor, writing about computers, technology, books and fiction.
About the Illustrator:
Vartika Sharma is an Illustrator, graphic Designer and photographer based in New Delhi, India.
About Pratham Books
Β
Pratham Books goes digital, FKBΒ is helping with their aim to get a book in every childβs hand!
Storyweaver, their digital platform is provided to weave a whole new chapter in the realm of multilingual childrenβs stories. Knitting together children, authors, illustrators and publishers. Folding in teachers, and translators. Creating a rich fabric of openly licensed multilingual stories for the children of India and the world. Their unique online platform, StoryWeaver, is a playground where children, parents, teachers and librarians can get creative, using the resources to make your own unique books online.
Check Out More Books from Pratham and Storyweaver:
Naughty or Not is a fun read for young children, and entertaining for toddlers. Are they being good today, or naughty? Learn interactively through interesting questions and answers.
Story of Stories is a picture book about a writer bear following his dream to write. What would happen if you were a journalist but there was nothing to write about? Should you give up writing? Or should you find another way to follow your dream?
Does it seem journalists have to write breaking stories about bad stuff all the time? What if they wrote about funny, happy, moving, or even sad, and scary stories? If a story had more depth wouldnβt people enjoy it more?
City of stories describes a sad city without any stories, then like floods after a drought, a city with too many stories, and finally finding balance. Nobody in the city has time to tell a story, until Didi and a little girl start a tidal wave of stories, that washes over everybody. fascinating fable of transformation of a city without stories into the City of Stories.
Dive! explores the underwater world, stepping you through the experience of going scuba diving on a coral reef. Take a dive with us into the spectacular world of coral reefs, and catch a glimpse of some strange and beautiful sea creatures!
Β
Β
Meera and Ameera β Imaginary Friends-Meera and Ameera are best of friends. Strangely Meera is the only one who can see Ameera. Thatβs probably because she is an imaginary porcupine. Join the two friends in their many adventures real and made up. Sample Text From Meera and Ameera Meera and I are a team. Sheβs my most favourite person in ...
The Auto That Flew-A tuk tuk daily fights the traffic of Dehli, only to secretly dream of being able to fly. A magic water makes that possibility reailty, but is it all that he dreamed of? Sample Text from The Auto That Flew Arjun had three wheels, one headlight and a coat of green and yellow. He belonged ...
The Mystery of the Cyber Friend β Important lessons about keeping safe online-Shree loves using her computer for all sorts of things. One of the things she does is to chat with friends. When she has a tiff with a group of friends, she receives a new request out of the blue, and decides to accept. But after some time she senses this new friend is not ...
Malarβs Big House-Malarβs building a big house, but will she manage to keep her house standing? Find out in Malarβs Big House. Sample Text from Malarβs Big House Today, Malar is going to build a big house! βI can use these!β βMy big house will be this high!β says Malar. βAnd this wide!β <End of sample from ...
Chiuβs Powers-Chiu sees exciting things that others cannot β flying rockets and fish swimming on the blackboard. Ajji takes Chiu to the eye doctor to find out about her magical powers. Sample Text from Chiuβs Powers Chiu is late for school. But she cannot find her red bottle. Is that her bottle? Or is it a ...
Thereβs a Hole in my Galaxy-In the year 2563 Maya and her friend Ava borrow the family space ship for a trip to Pluto. Halfway there they have a battle with a black hole where they are almost sucked in. Along the way, we learn lots of facts about black holes. Sample text from Thereβs a Hole in my Galaxy ...
Why Do Sunflowers Love the Sun?-Viveka wants to paint the sunflowers near her house, but they keep moving. Follow this story to find out the mystery of how the sunflowers change throughout the day. Sample Text from Why Do Sunflowers Love the Sun? Viveka wants to paint the sunflower field near her house. She looks at the sunflowers carefully one ...
Get Down, Rocky!-Rocky the Goat has got out and chased the rooster wind vane onto the church roof, who let him out, and how would they get him down? Find out more about what Rose, Amma, Appa, the coconut seller, the banana-leaf seller, the shopkeeper and the carpenter do to get Rocky down in this cute short ...
Eye Can See β From magnifying glases to telescopes-Eye Can See details a group of childrenβs visit to their parentβs laboratory and all the magnifying equipment they find. From magnifying glass to microscope, binoculars to a telescope, this book teaches children about all things magnifying. Sample Text From Eye Can See School is closed for summer. Every day Chanda, Tinku and Motu have ...
A Street, or a Zoo?-Three children are playing in the street, where they happen upon several different animals. Is it a street, or a zoo? Find out what they do with the animals they find in this cute story for young children. Sample Text from A Street, or a Zoo? Sonu, Monu and Rina set out to play. They ...
See more books aboutΒ friendship below
Β
The Mystery of the Cyber Friend β Important lessons about keeping safe online-Shree loves using her computer for all sorts of things. One of the things she does is to chat with friends. When she has a tiff with a group of friends, she receives a new request out of the blue, and decides to accept. But after some time she senses this new friend is not ...
Friends β Early Reader-In Friends Simo has four friends and they each like to do different things, what does Simo do? This short text has lots of repetition making it a nice early reader too. This is a level 1 book with simple text and lots of pictures to help children in their reading journey. Sample Text from ...
My Brotherβs Wheeeeelchair-Durva and Dhrubo are brother and sister. Together they explore markets and parks, and they have lots of fun like normal siblings do. Dhruboβs wheeeeelchair is a fun attachment to their games. Read about all the crazy things this pair get up to in My Brotherβs Wheeeeelchair. Author: Salil Chaturvedi, Illustrator: Tanvi Bhat Β Β ...
Chakuβs Cycle β Building a Tricycle-Chakuβs Cyle β Chaku saw Lilas tricycle and he liked it a lot. He decided to make one and need his uncles help for tools in building a tricycle on his own. Chaku was very resourceful although he manage to make a very nice looking tricycle it was not sturdy enough to ride. Lila saw ...
The New Girl β Diversity in Indian Culture-A new girl comes to class, initially, she is shunned, but one child makes friends and encourages her to celebrate her differences. The story culminates in a class project where all children present items celebrating differences from all their backgrounds. The new girl shines. This is rated level 3 by Pratham, stories that are suitable ...
Mission Cycle β A childβs experience with Curfew-Mission Cycle is a tale of learning to ride a bicycle and at the same time an experience of Curfew through a childβs eyes. Author: Rohini Mohan, Illustrator: Jayesh Sivan Sample Text from Mission Cycle Is it morning already? Why didnβt Ammi or Abbu wake me up? Did they forget I have school? Did they ...
Maliβs Friend β How to have a friend-A short tale of how a shy boy gains and have a friend. Mali doesnβt enjoy playing with the other children, he prefers playing by himself, but when Lesedi persists to ask him to play he gives in and finds it is fun, they become friends. A tale of overcoming shyness. This book is brought ...
Come Stay With Me β Bunny and Turtle have a visit-Come Stay With Me β Tendai Turtleβs Granny has hurt her shell and Mum and Dad have to go to help her. βCome stay with me,β says Tendaiβs best friend Busi Bunny, and the fun begins. A short fun story about a play date and sleepover. BookDash books are perfect for young children and those ...
Billy Helps Max β Book 5 from the Billy Growing Up series-Billy Helps Max β The fifth book in the Billy Growing Up Series, This chapter focuses on stealing or theft. Taking something from someone without permission is a very bad and undesirable thing to do. Have you lost something valuable or got something very important to you stolen. It hurts and sometimes it is very ...
Same-Same or Different? Being friends despite differences-Can you only be friends with people who are exactly like you? Is it wrong to be best friends with someone who is different? Learn to SORT OUT the answers to these questions, mathematically, and humanely, with Snake and Sparrow in this heartwarming story about friendship despite differences. This story about being friends despite differences ...
Β
Sponsored Links:
Note β if you sign up through these links, it doesnβt cost you any extra, but FKB receives a small donation, which helps us move towards our aim of FREE Hardcopies!Β Β
All our posts are checked by Grammarly, theΒ FREEΒ online grammar checker (We still receive a donation even if you only sign up for the free account :-):
Hi! I enjoyed reading A Helping Hand. Thank you so much for sharing this. I just want to make sure of its classification. Is it considered fiction or non-fiction? Many thanks for your immediate reply.
Hi, itβs a fictional story so it is classified as fiction, as far as I know. The topic it teaches could be considered a basis of a non-fiction lesson, but this is incidental, hope that helps.
What i think about this book is that if somebody is new and shy you should include the other person. This book really is a book where you can learn kindness from kindness is lots of things peace love friendships. If somebody is different then you because they have a sort of problem[health/speaking or walking /any thing]YOU COULD STILL BE FRIENDS we are all different but we can still be friends this world is made out of kindness .
A lovely, thoughtful story about how a girl becomes friends with a girl with a disability and learns that she is just like any other girl. A story of acceptance and growth.
good
WOWπππππππππβββ
Hi! I enjoyed reading A Helping Hand. Thank you so much for sharing this. I just want to make sure of its classification. Is it considered fiction or non-fiction? Many thanks for your immediate reply.
Hi, itβs a fictional story so it is classified as fiction, as far as I know. The topic it teaches could be considered a basis of a non-fiction lesson, but this is incidental, hope that helps.
What i think about this book is that if somebody is new and shy you should include the other person. This book really is a book where you can learn kindness from kindness is lots of things peace love friendships. If somebody is different then you because they have a sort of problem[health/speaking or walking /any thing]YOU COULD STILL BE FRIENDS we are all different but we can still be friends this world is made out of kindness .
A lovely, thoughtful story about how a girl becomes friends with a girl with a disability and learns that she is just like any other girl. A story of acceptance and growth.