Knots on a Counting Rope (Reading Rainbow Books)

One of the best children’s books I’ve read in a long time. Please take the time to read this to your children.

This is a story to read to kids…it’s beautifully illustrated..and is inspirational

"Knots on a Counting Rope" is a miracle of children's literature. The main character is a young American Indian boy who is blind, and the story is told via a conversation between the Boy and his Grandfather about Boy's birth, growth, strength, learning and empowerment, preparing him to become an independent young man who will not always have his Grandfather around. If it isn't clear by that description, the story depicts the type of issues that are pertinent to a child with a handicap, who lives a minority lifestyle - "on the Rez", and close to nature. It respectfully depicts a flavor of Native culture, weaving teachings about the continuity of birth, life and death, with teachings about how we develop important skills for living, and the value of how we tell our story.The illustrations are nothing short of remarkable, each page a beautiful painting saturated with light and dark and a muted palette that conjures mystery, imagination and reverence to match the dialogue. The dialogue, is honest, slow, filled with emptiness, and echoes of poetry.Based upon its length, this book is for elementary age children. I am going to try it with my preschoolers and will report if it holds their attention.

Read this book to my students in a 3-6 year Montessori classroom. One of my favorites.

Great story of family. Nice for my students that are blind like the young boy in the story.

This book is a classic. Every elementary school student should read it. Better an adult should read it to a child. The child may have dry eyes after hearing the story, the reader won't.

A unique way to learn one's young life's story : the Oral Tradition of a Native American Grandfather with his Grandson: except we, the readers have the privilege of listening in, to their intimate conversation. A must read! a must have for book-lovers personal ( school and public) libraries.

"Knots" is a beautiful story told in a unique way about a Native American boy who was born blind. The story is told in a back-and-forth style between the boy & his grandfather. I ordered this book along with other books about various disabilities to read to small children and help give them some disability awareness. This book was one of their favorites :)I would recommend that if you're reading this to a group of children, take a second person along to be the voice of the boy/grandfather. I tried to switch between voices to give the impression of two people speaking, but it was a little bit difficult.

What a beautiful story. So much you can take away from it.