Be Good To Eddie Lee By Virgina Fleming

In the story Be Good to Eddie Lee a young boy with Down syndrome attempts to befriend a young girl name Christy and a young boy name JimBud. Though Christy's mother told her to be good to Eddie Lee, Christy ignores her mother’s wishes and leaves out Eddie Lee. Christy and JimBud decided to set off to find frog eggs, when Eddie tries to come with them they tell him to go home. Christy and JimBud set off to find the frog eggs, when they got to the pond they couldn't find them. Soon Eddie came walking through the bushes and found them. The three of them were all startled. Christy began to get angry at Jimbud because he couldn’t find the frog eggs. Eddie offered to take Christy to where they were. Christy and Eddie Lee set off to find the frog eggs. Once they got to the pond that had the fish eggs, Eddie points them out. Christy then realizes how intelligent Eddie really is and that he is not much different from her. After they see the frog eggs the two set out to tell Jimbud what they saw. Christy and Eddie Lee had found common ground and were now friends.
I think that this book would be very influential to read and talk about in the classroom, especially if there was a student with special needs in the class. I think that this book would allow students to understand special needs children and would show them that though they may appear to be different, in reality they are not. Also I think that this book teaches about how all people are different and you cannot judge anyone. I think that this book gives a really good message to students as well as adults. I think that it does a good job breaking the stereotypical mold of “special” needs children. You could easy get into a conversation with your students about how each one is different but those differences are what make each of us so unique.