Final: Critical review of book: Andy and His Yellow Frisbee

Thompson, Mary. Andy and His Yellow Frisbee. New York: Woodbine House, 1996.

           

Andy and His Yellow Frisbee is about a boy named Andy who is autistic and loves playing with his yellow frisbee everyday during recess. His older sister, Rosie, goes to the same school and always watches out for him and worries about Andy during recess. In the story Rosie is playing soccer one day during recess and looks over at Andy spinning his frisbee and sees a girl, Sarah, hanging around close by him. Rosie gets worried about how Andy will react and leaves mid-game and runs over to Andy to make sure he is okay. When she got to Andy, Rosie saw the girl playing close to Andy with a pink frisbee. The little girl asks Andy if he can show her how to spin the frisbee and Andy does not reply but does move a little farther away from the girl. The narrator explains that Andy does this because he is autistic and explains that he likes to keep to himself. The girl with the pink frisbee ends up asking Rosie, Andy’s sister, if she wants to play catch with her frisbee. Sarah and Rosie end up playing together while Andy is still sitting spinning his yellow frisbee.

I thought this book did a good job of showing how siblings of autistic children can feel the need to, at times, protect their siblings. Rosie, for example loved playing soccer, but while she was playing the narrator explained that she would constantly look over to make sure her brother Andy was okay. When Rosie sees a girl coming close to Andy she runs over, leaves her game and makes sure that Andy is okay. I thought this was a very kind act on Rosie’s part but also showed that sometimes siblings of autistic children have to give up things for themselves every once and awhile, since she had to leave the soccer game and miss playing in the game for the rest of recess. This act also demonstrated sibling love and how Rosie would do that without hesitation for her brother.

One aspect or description of Andy in the book that I wasn’t sure if I liked or not was the fact that the narrator said that “Nothing was simple about her brother. Mom had told her that was because Andy had autism.” I think that by saying “nothing was simple about Andy” is kind of saying in other words nothing is “normal” about him. I think that this sentence describing Andy is alienating him and then blaming it on the fact that he had autism. I do like how the narrator describes Andy’s love for spinning objects as a special talent. This explains why he loves spinning his frisbee and also discusses other objects that he loved to spin such as coins and dinner plates.

Another component of the story that I liked was how the author incorporated little facts about autism subtly throughout the book. For example, the narrator explains that, “Even when he was a baby he didn’t want to be held or cuddled.” I like this because it is still part of the story but gives some inside information about autism to the reader. Another example of this was when the narrator explained that Andy had a hard time with other people and new situations and could get upset easily in such situations.

The last page of the book was entitled, “What is Autism?” Here the narrator explains about Autism and how it affects about 400,000 children and adults in the U.S. Here the narrator also relates things back to Andy. The section also explains “that many children with autism feel sensory input differently than other children do.” And also says that spinning a frisbee, like Andy did throughout the story, can help children with autism deal with sensations. I liked that the book had this page to inform the reader a little bit more about autism. Also on the back inside cover, the about the author section, explains that Mary Thompson, the author, “is a mother of four children, including one with disabilities.” I think this is a cool fact to know about the author because it shows that she is an insider to information about disabilities with children and also how siblings react and act with their sibling who has a disability. I also really like how the “What is Autism” section ends, by saying that, “With extra help, all of them can learn important skills in school and become a valuable part of their community.” This is a nice quote because it ends the section and story on a positive note and implies that just because a student or child has autism does not mean that they cannot become a valuable part of their community or school. 

image from:http://www.autismbookstore.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000008/band01.jpg