The Invisible Boy

The Invisible Boy is likely one of my favorite books in the last few years. I first discovered it last week, when one of my colleagues shared it with me.  I decided that I would read it before Valentine’s Day because it had a great message about friends and social learning.

The book was called:  The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig, Illustrated by Patrice Barton.

I can’t even tell you the impact that this book had on me.  I think it’s because I am so passionate about social learning and teaching children compassion and kindness and self awareness.

This book is about a boy that is just simply a quiet, introspective boy who loves to draw.  There are very noisy children in the class that take up the teacher’s time and everyone else’s.  Because of this, the boy seems “invisible”.  My favorite line in the book was when the author says that the boy takes up very little “space” and the other two noisy children take up a lot of space.  That is the best way I have every heard to describe the “noise pollution” often caused by children seeking attention or that lack self control. The illustrations are heart warming and really allow the reader to feel for this little boy.  In the end, a new student and a current student invite the “invisible boy” to join their story writing group because he is a good illustrator and they get along beautifully.  I love the writing connection to this book.

I really recommend this book. The discussion that ensued after I read this book was amazing and the students really got it.  We’ve been working all year on being mindful and kind and the comments about this book really showed me that my teaching has paid off. 🙂

I have created a small book unit to go with this book. You can find it here.