It was great to get this review and feedback from avid Andee fans! I hope I can continue to inspire and help kids in special education. Some things that stood out while reading this book to children and the way that they reacted to it (please note there may be some spoilers, proceed with caution) Character in a wheelchair - one of the characters, a female character is introduced as being in a wheelchair. I sometimes work with special education children, and they don't always react positively to stories that include children in wheelchairs. Most of the time, it's because children in wheelchairs are depicted as having limitations/boundaries/not being able to keep up with the other characters in the story. This is NOT the case with the young girl in the wheelchair in this book. The children reacted very positively to this character, and many of them wanted to know more about her. One little girl who is 9 and has spent most of her life since age 2 in a wheelchair kept saying "she's just like me". It was nice that these special education children who are often left out when stories are read, especially action adventure stories, felt included because of this book. All children are special, and every child deserves the right to have powerful, inspiring characters that he (or she) can relate to Female aquanaut added to the series - The kids were overjoyed when a female aquanaut was added to this series. All though both boys and girls in the class have enjoyed the Andee the Aquanaut series, some of them always felt like it was a "boy's superhero book" and now those girls are thrilled that they have their own superhero. The girls especially are hoping that this female aquanaut appears in future Andee the Aquanaut books and the character is quickly becoming the favorite superhero among the girls.
Some things that stood out while reading this book to children and the way that they reacted to it (please note there may be some spoilers, proceed with caution)
Character in a wheelchair - one of the characters, a female character is introduced as being in a wheelchair. I sometimes work with special education children, and they don't always react positively to stories that include children in wheelchairs. Most of the time, it's because children in wheelchairs are depicted as having limitations/boundaries/not being able to keep up with the other characters in the story. This is NOT the case with the young girl in the wheelchair in this book. The children reacted very positively to this character, and many of them wanted to know more about her. One little girl who is 9 and has spent most of her life since age 2 in a wheelchair kept saying "she's just like me". It was nice that these special education children who are often left out when stories are read, especially action adventure stories, felt included because of this book. All children are special, and every child deserves the right to have powerful, inspiring characters that he (or she) can relate to
Female aquanaut added to the series - The kids were overjoyed when a female aquanaut was added to this series. All though both boys and girls in the class have enjoyed the Andee the Aquanaut series, some of them always felt like it was a "boy's superhero book" and now those girls are thrilled that they have their own superhero. The girls especially are hoping that this female aquanaut appears in future Andee the Aquanaut books and the character is quickly becoming the favorite superhero among the girls.