Product Description
Lucas fell, and now he lives with a disability. A Level G story about resilience that first graders can read on their own.
Lucas is a happy lion.
One day Lucas Falls.
Can Lucas be happy again?
When Lucas falls off a ladder, he hurts his spine and can't use his legs anymore. He can't stand on them and he can't walk on them. Through self-determination and with the love of friends and family, Lucas learns new ways to take care of himself and have fun.
With easy-to-read language and cheerful art, children can learn about physical disabilities while they grow their confidence as readers.
This book has been officially leveled by using the Fountas & Pinnell Text Level GradientTM leveling system.
For early-to-mid first grade readers, Level G books feature more complex storylines than prior levels, and a wider variety of structure and punctuation. Illustrations offer support for decoding the more challenging vocabulary words introduced.
The award-winning I Like to Read® series focuses on guided reading levels A through G, based upon Fountas and Pinnell standards. Acclaimed author-illustrators--including winners of Caldecott, Theodor Seuss Geisel, and Coretta Scott King honors—create original, high quality illustrations that support comprehension of simple text and are fun for kids to read with parents, teachers, or on their own!
From School Library Journal
PreS-K-Plohl's latest semi-autobiographical picture book presents a very simple version of the story of how he was injured and became a wheelchair user. With only one or two sentences on each page, readers see Lucas the Lion go from being happy before his injury to being sad that he cannot walk anymore. He discovers new ways of doing things, gets adaptive equipment to help him be independent, and finds love-all of which help him to be happy again. Photographs of the author doing many of the same tasks that Lucas the Lion does in the book will make the story real to young readers and may open a discussion about adaptive sports, accessibility, and other important topics around disability. The book is positive without being saccharine. It addresses some myths about people with disabilities-that disabled people can't find or aren't interested in romantic love, for example-in a simple and factual way. VERDICT A much-needed book that humanizes the experience of becoming disabled in a gentle way and appropriate for young children.-Mindy Rhigerα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review
★ "A much-needed book that humanizes the experience of becoming disabled in a gentle way and appropriate for young children."—School Library Journal, Starred Review
"The matter-of-fact text and Šonc’s bright, appealingly childlike cartoon illustrations reassure readers that adaptations and support make it possible to thrive with a disability. . . . An upbeat introduction to coping with a disability."—Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Igor Plohl (pronounced EE-gor PLAHL) was born and raised in Slovenia, where he teaches at a primary school and lectures extensively on physical disability and spinal cord injury. After falling from a ladder at the age of twenty-nine, he injured his spinal cord and became paraplegic. He shares his experience in an autobiographical book for adults and three children's books, including Lucas at the Paralympics, published by Holiday House in Summer 2021. You can learn more about Igor Plohl on his website: www.igor-plohl.info
Urska Stropnik Sonc graduated from the Faculty of Education in Maribor for book illustration. Her first picture book illustrations were published in 1997. Since then, she has illustrated more than 70 books. She lives with her husband and three sons in Velenje, Slovenia.
