The Balancing Girl

by Berniece Rabe, Lillian Hoban

A first grader who is very good at balancing objects while in her wheelchair and on her crutches thinks up her greatest balancing act ever to benefit the school carnival.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Childrens, Disability

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1981

About the author

While growing up in a large sharecropping family in Missouri during the Depression, Berniece Rabe Tryand practiced telling stories to herself. When she was 40, a teacher at Elgin Community College inspired her to use those storytelling skills to become an author, leading her to write 17 books, several of which won awards.

Ms. Tryand’s 1978 book “The Orphans” (Dutton Juvenile) won the Society of Midland Authors award for best children’s nonfiction. Ms. Tryand, who wrote under the name Berniece Rabe, also was nominated five times for the American Library Association’s Newbery Medal and won the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Golden Kite award, the National Children’s Choice Award and two Best of the Decade awards.

Ms. Tryand met her first husband, Walter Henry Rabe, in Panama during World War II while she was modeling a line of fashions and he was in the Army. They were married in 1946 and organized the first Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation in Elgin. Walter Rabe died in 2005 after a 59-year-marriage, and Ms. Tryand married James Tryand of Plano in 2009.

She is survived by James Tryand; her three sons Alan, Brian and Clay Rabe; her daughter Dara Rabe Sandland; 10 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.

Reviews

[Nicole Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to incorporate into a classroom when talking about social issues. This young girl has to be in a wheelchair, but she is able to make a huge domino chain and balance everything perfectly because of this. The fact that she is in a wheelchair really never gets brought up in the book, which i think is a great thing. it shows kids that it really doesn't matter at all if somebody has a dissability, they should respect that person by the way they act and the things that he or she can accomplish.

[Debbi]

This woman was a friend and an early mentor. I decided to buy all of her books and read them in sequence. What an interesting experience! I love her style--clear and age-appropriate, but she doesn't "talk down" to anyone. Those that echo her childhood are captivating. Those that speak to children in her life are tender. All have funny moments, real conflicts, and resolution. It was like talking to her again. Thank you, Berniece.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet, simple story about a girl who is really (really!) good at balancing things, and makes a very long domino chain for her class fair.

The fact that she uses a wheelchair is barely mentioned, which I thought was a nice touch.

There's not much to *say* about this book, but it'd make a good addition to most people's libraries.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, especially after realizing when it was published (1981). I think it'd be a good book to expose children to differences, but would not choose to read it to discuss different abilities/mobility.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A first grader who is very good at balancing objects while in her wheelchair and on her crutches thinks up her greatest balancing act ever to benefit the school carnival.