Stay Away from
Simon!
By Carol Carrick
Carrick,
C. (1985). Stay Away from Simon! New
York, NY: Clarion Books- Houghton Mifflin Company.
Realistic
Fiction; International Literature; Disabilities; Chapter Book
This book about Lucy and others' fear towards Simon is set in New England. Simon is a man who is mentally challenged, and with this story set back in time, the awareness of this disability is low. All the children are afraid of Simon, thinking his abnormal tendencies relate to him possibly hurting them. A snow storm approaches the town one day and the students must leave school early. Lucy and her brother are walking home when they notice Simon following them. Afraid that Simon would hurt them, Lucy decides to take them off the normal path and track through the woods to lose him. Lucy and her brother end up lost and fight hard against the snow storm, almost losing the battle. However, Simon comes along and carries them to safety, where their father finds them. Lucy doesn't realize that if it wasn't for Simon rescuing them, they would have possibly died, until after talking with her father and understanding Simon's condition and true persona. In the end she goes to thank him and tries to make a connection to him.
Kids may see people with a disability as abnormal or weird, and may treat them different based off their conditions. I think this book would be a great introduction for talking about the awareness of our differences and treating everyone equally. We could talk about the diversity of our class, our school, and our neighborhoods, giving ideas for how to make ourselves and others aware of the issue of treating people different because of their disability. Hopefully students would walk away feeling as if they would embrace the differences shown between them and their peers.
This book about Lucy and others' fear towards Simon is set in New England. Simon is a man who is mentally challenged, and with this story set back in time, the awareness of this disability is low. All the children are afraid of Simon, thinking his abnormal tendencies relate to him possibly hurting them. A snow storm approaches the town one day and the students must leave school early. Lucy and her brother are walking home when they notice Simon following them. Afraid that Simon would hurt them, Lucy decides to take them off the normal path and track through the woods to lose him. Lucy and her brother end up lost and fight hard against the snow storm, almost losing the battle. However, Simon comes along and carries them to safety, where their father finds them. Lucy doesn't realize that if it wasn't for Simon rescuing them, they would have possibly died, until after talking with her father and understanding Simon's condition and true persona. In the end she goes to thank him and tries to make a connection to him.
Kids may see people with a disability as abnormal or weird, and may treat them different based off their conditions. I think this book would be a great introduction for talking about the awareness of our differences and treating everyone equally. We could talk about the diversity of our class, our school, and our neighborhoods, giving ideas for how to make ourselves and others aware of the issue of treating people different because of their disability. Hopefully students would walk away feeling as if they would embrace the differences shown between them and their peers.
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