I used this book with my second grade children in a unit on communications. They were fascinated by the story and learned a lot of new vocabulary words. The book's content was such that my children were able to try to imagine what it would be like to be deaf, blind, or both. The book was also a springboard for discussion on courage, perseverance, determination, and achieving goals, as it gave concrete examples of these abstract concepts. We also used the book to learn a little geography as we traced the path of Helen's travels on a map. It includes a picture of the Braille alphabet, which we used to write and "decode" messages, an exercise the kids loved! Contrary to the opinion of another reviewer, we really liked the artwork and the content. Obviously, I recommend this book.