Helen's Mischief

Once Helen spilled some water on her apron. She wanted it to dry so she held her apron near the fireplace. She was too close and it burst into flames. She liked to play tricks. One day she found some keys and locked her mother in the pantry closet. Helen sat on the porch where she could feel the vibrations of her mother's pounding. It took 3 hours for someone to let Helen's mother out of the pantry.

Helen and a young servant named Martha Washington played together. Helen and her friend Martha were cutting out paper dolls when Helen got bored and so she cut off all the flowers growing on vines near the porch. Then she cut Martha's hair and let Martha cut her own long, golden hair.

When Helen was 5 years old her mother gave birth to another little girl. Helen became jealous of the baby who seemed to be taking her mother away. Helen pushed over the cradle with her little sister Mildred in it. Before the baby hit the floor her mother caught her.

Anne Sullivan took the teacher job when she was 20 years old. She had been an orphan. When Anne first arrived Helen would throw bad temper-tantrums. The only way that Anne could teach Helen without the families interruptions was to live and teach in the small cottage beside the families house.

Newspapers in Boston got word about Helen's story and shared stories about Helen and Annie. The papers called Helen the "wonder child". This helped Helen become famous. In May 1888 Helen and Anne were invited to the White House to meet President Grover Cleveland. The president was amazed by how much Helen could do.

In the summer after Helen attented the Perkins school, Annie and Helen went to Cape Cod, and Helen went swimming in the ocean for the first time. This became Helen's most favorite place. Poetry became Helen's passion while she studied at Perkins.

Dogs were her favorite animal.

After nearly fifty years her teacher Anne Sullivan died.

Helen met Franklin D. Roosevelt who had had polio. He had braces on his legs and used a wheelchair. The two proved that people could overcome severe handicaps and achieve great things.

Helen Keller's story has inspired millions and it continues to inspire us today.

Thompson, Gary. 2003, Grosser and Dunlap, NY.