Book Review: "Howie Helps Himself"

Fassler, Joan. Howie Helps Himself. Illinois: Albert Whiteman & Company, 1975.

Howie Helps Himself is the story of Howie, a regular little boy. He loves chocolate ice cream, he plays with his dad and his sister, Linda, and he goes to school every morning. But, Howie also has cerebral palsy and he is struggling with being able to “zoom around in his wheelchair without any help at all.” He continues to practice and practice, getting help from his teachers and parents, as he watches his friends zooming around the classroom, until one day Howie gets strong enough to finally help himself.

Carol J. Hopkins writes in an article for The Elementary School Journal that Howie Helps Himself is “about a boy whose emotions can be recognized by many children, no matter what their experience with handicaps has been” (35). This is a very positive aspect of this book. Howie’s frustration and sadness are not emotions only children with cerebral palsy will feel and so this makes Howie identifiable to all students. Subsequently, students without disabilities see Howie as a kid just like them, but a little different.

This book shows the struggles that the main character had with his wheelchair; this allows readers who perhaps are having a hard time in physical therapy know they are not alone. Plus, it can give students without disabilities a glimpse into the difficulties their peers with disabilities might have, causing them to think twice before they make fun of them. The author’s note at the beginning of the book can be helpful for readers to understand the book’s purpose. It explains what Fassler hopes insiders and outsiders will receive from reading this text. Joan Fassler is a Ph. D who, at the time this book was published, worked at the Child Study Center of Yale University studying children with cerebral palsy. Therefore, while not being an insider herself, she has been trained to understand that kinds of things Howie would have to go through, making this book accurate.

Because of the date this book was written it uses the word “handicap” to describe Howies’s situation. This is not done as a gesture of disrespect, since that was the term widely used at the time. However, this is not the term used today. Rather, Howie would be referred to as a “person with a disability”. Another interesting thing that may also be a product of the times is the stereotypical nature of some of the illustrations. When Howie is shown at school, all the students seem to be in costume and one particular child is dressed like a Native American. But, the costume only consists of a single feather on his head. Also, the African American characters all are drawn with afros. These visual stereotypes could be offensive to insiders of those groups. These two issues can and should be addressed when children read the book so that certain stereotypes are not enforced in their minds.

Hopkins, Carol J. “Developing Positive Attitudes towards the Handicapped through Children’s Books.” The Elementary School Journal Sept. 1980: 34-39.