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by Carol Ghiglieri
illustrated by Antonio Castro

n Keller
HeAnleInspiring
Life

TM

Guided Reading Level J

No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write
to Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Written by Carol Ghiglieri
Illustrated by Antonio Castro
Designed by Maria Lilja
ISBN-13: 978-0-439-77417-8
ISBN-10: 0-439-77417-9
Copyright 2007 by Scholastic Inc.

62

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Published by Scholastic Inc.

All rights reserved.
Printed in China.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1616

timeline (noun) a line with marks and

words that shows when important
events happened1

realized (verb) understood; knew

palm (noun) the inside of the hand

inspiring (adjective) encouraging;

giving confidence or support to
someone

hope (noun) a good feeling about

the future

communicate (verb) to share

information, ideas, or feelings
with others

Braille (noun) A kind of writing for

blind people. It uses raised dots that
can be felt with the fingertips.

Glossary

Helen Keller was deaf and blind. But

that did not stop her. She wrote books
and traveled around the world. Read
on to learn about her inspiring life!

Helen Keller lived

from 1880 to 1968.
She was a hero to
many people.

Helens parents worried about

Helen while she was sick.

Helen was born in Alabama in 1880.

She was a happy baby. But when
she was almost two, she got very
sick. For days she had a high fever.
2

1900

1904

1905

Helen
finishes
college.

1902

Helen writes
a book about
her life.

15

1913

1915

Helen begins
making speeches
to help deaf
and blind people.

1910

1885

14

Helen learns
her first
words.

1887

1890

Annie Sullivan
comes to live
with Helen.

1887

Helen gets sick.

She becomes
deaf and blind.

1882

1880

Helen Keller
is born.

1880

This timeline shows some of the

important events in Helen Kellers life.

1895

After the fever passed, Helen was

not the same as before. Her parents
realized that she couldnt hear or see.
The illness had left her deaf and blind.

Helen could not see

spring f lowers or
hear birds sing.

For the rest of her life, Helen worked

to help deaf and blind people.
She showed them that they could do
many things. Today people remember
Helen Keller as a true hero.

We can do anything
we want to do if
we stick to it long
enough, Helen said.

Helen could not hear words, so she

could not learn to speak. It made her
angry that she couldnt communicate.

13

Sometimes Helen got

so angry she would
kick and scream.

12

Over the years, Helen visited more than

30 countries. She met many deaf and
blind people on her travels. Everywhere
she went, she gave people hope.

The leaders of many

countries wanted to
meet Helen.

Helen found ways to let her parents

know what she wanted. When she
wanted ice cream, she pretended she
was cold. When she wanted her father,
she pretended to put on glasses.

Helen made different movements

to show what she wanted.

When Helen was 20, she went to

college. She also wrote a book about
her life. Now people all over the world
could read Helens amazing story.

Helen used a special typewriter

to write. Her first book was
called The Story of My Life.

When Helen was six, a teacher named

Annie Sullivan came to live with her
family. Annie wanted to teach Helen to
communicate with words. But how?

11

Annie brought Helen a doll.

Annie spelled letters with her fingers

in the palm of Helens hand. Annie
spelled the letters D-O-L-L. Then she
handed Helen a doll. But Helen didnt
understand that the letters spelled doll.
7

Helen later learned to read books in

Braille. These books had raised dots
that stood for letters. Helen could feel
the dots with her fingertips. She also
learned to write and speak, too.
10

Helen loved books. She

read one after another.

Annie tried to teach Helen about

words. She tried to teach her
that everything has a name.

Suddenly Helen understood! The

letters spelled water! Now she knew
that everything had a name!
I learned a great many new words
that day, Helen later wrote.

For many weeks,

Annie tried to
teach Helen about
words. It was a
very difficult job.

One day, Annie had an idea. She led

Helen to the water pump. Annie let
the cold water run over Helens hand.
Then she wrote the letters W-A-T-E-R
in Helens palm again and again.

Mother, father,
sister, and teacher
were some of the
new words Helen
learned that day.