Quarta – The Girl Born With Only Two Arms and Two Legs

Quarta – The Girl Born With Only Two Arms and Two Legs – Imagine a world where you didn’t have the same abilities as everyone else? What would you do? Quarta is another awesome free kids book from Stuart Baum at Stuart’s Stories.

By: Stuart Baum

Text from Quarta – The Girl Born With Only Two Arms and Two Legs

Once upon a time, actually not that many years ago, there was a girl who was born with only two arms and two legs. Can you imagine that? Count how many you have. Eight! That’s right. Four arms and four legs.

Now, there have been a few children born with only four arms and three legs. Or four legs and three arms.
And there was one child born with only three of each, for a total of six, but what would it be like having only two arms and two legs! That’s hard to imagine.

If you fold two legs underneath yourself and hide two arms behind your back, you can feel what it might be like. Very odd. And how would you do all the things you need to do with only two arms and two legs. It’d be hard to even walk!

When the baby was born, the doctor told the parents the bad news. That their new baby daughter only had two arms and two legs. Though they were sad, they decided to love their new daughter anyway. And they named her Quarta, meaning ‘four.’

Growing up, Quarta had very few friends. This was possibly since her parents were afraid she’d get hurt or struggle too much to keep up, because she had only half as many arms and legs as the other children.

When she was five, Quarta went to school like the other children. She did well in classes, better than most of the other children, but she struggled to fit in socially, that is, she had almost no friends. And, as far as sports went, this was the biggest problem.

Other children could easily catch the two balls and two sticks when they played “Balls and Sticks,” but since Quarta had only two arms, she could only, at best, catch one stick and one ball. For this reason, no one wanted her on their team.

Lunch was even more difficult, since the children had to catch their own food and Quarta had to learn how to do this with only two arms. Can you imagine catching food with only two arms? That’d be really hard!

She did not starve, of course, but there were some lunches where her teachers had to give her food, like a baby, and this was embarrassing.

The other children teased her, as you might expect, which made her sad, but what could she do?

It became worse as she got older. When she was thirteen and the students were going on dates, she was often left home alone. Every now and then, her friends would all go out together and they would invite her. But, she knew, she was too different to be considered a girlfriend by any of the boys. They would be nice to her, but it was more like how you would treat a pet than a person. This made Quarta very sad.

<end of sample>

See more books about Diversity and Differences below

Turning Points – YA Short Stories - The paths of two young women weave around each other, bringing them together then pushing them away from each other—will they remain apart forever?

The Whistling Man - A charming free children's storybook about the visually impaired for early grades.

Odd One Out – An anti-discrimination story for elementary school age children - Psychedelic seal is not like all the others – he doesn’t blend in like the other seals, not only is he in danger to the world at large, he gets teased by the other seal pups. Learn about how psychedelic seal learns to triumph in spite of his differences and even because of them in ...

Voices of Children – Child helpline stories and help - This poignant account of children and teen’s child helpline calls can help children put their problems in perspective or recognise that there are ways to get help. Over thirty stories of problems from too much schoolwork or friendship difficulties to suicide and physical and sexual abuse. The book also includes worldwide contacts for Child Helpline ...

My Brother’s Wheeeeelchair - Durva and Dhrubo are brother and sister. Together they explore markets and parks, and they have lots of fun like normal siblings do. Dhrubo’s wheeeeelchair is a fun attachment to their games. Read about all the crazy things this pair get up to in My Brother’s Wheeeeelchair. Author: Salil Chaturvedi, Illustrator: Tanvi Bhat     ...

Welcome to the Forest – A visually impaired field trip - Welcome to the Forest – A true story of a group of visually impaired students who go on a field trip to the forest, enjoy this tale of what they conceptualise through touch and sound. Sample Text from Welcome to the Forest Tulsa wishes she could visit a forest. Her teacher reads stories about tigers ...

The New Girl – 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 ...

I am the Colour of Honey – Biracial experiences - I am the Colour of Honey – Biracial experiences – A little girl explains what it is like to have people make judgments about her skin colour. She loves her biracial family and wishes others would understand. A poignant look at our multicultural society through the eyes of a child, perfect for social studies or ...

Free At Last – The US Civil Rights Movement - A comprehensive textbook on Civil Rights in America, documenting the US civil rights movement from the introduction of slavery through to the enforcement of the Civil Rights Act and eradication of all discriminatory practices. This textbook was created by the US Bureau of International Information Programs and is available in Public Domain. Principal text written ...

Civil Rights Activity Book – Southern Poverty Law Center - This beautifully presented Civil Rights Activity Book helps children learn about the US Civil Rights struggle fought for equal rights for people of colour in America. In 1964 President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, making it unlawful to treat people differently because of their race, religion, or sex. While the American Civil War ended ...