SIX DOTS: A Story of Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant.  Illus. by Boris Kulikov.  New York:  Alfred A. Knopf, 2017. 32p.  ISBN 978-044981337-9 hc. $17.99     Gr. 2-5     E PIC

Based on the true story of Louis Braille, Bryant tells the story of a normal, curious boy who injured his eye with an awl from his father's workshop.  The eye became infected and spread to the other eye, blinding Louis.  As much as he tried to use his other senses, he wanted to read and write, just like everyone else.  At a school for the blind in Paris, Louis was introduced to a coding machine that used raised dots to make letters on paper, resulting in secret codes for the battlefield.  He worked for years, refining the code to make each letter of the alphabet fit into a matrix of six dots, which is named "Braille" and used universally by those who have lost their vision.  References and biographical information can be found in the back of the book.  Kulikov's illustrations are most impressive, but my favorite is a graphic of the Braille Alphabet on each end page.  SIX DOTS won the Schneider Family Book Award in January, 2017.
Lynette Suckow, Superiorland Preview Center, Marquette, MI