"Looking After Louis" Review

Ely, Louis. Looking After Louis. Morton Grove: Albert Whitman & Company, 2004.

Looking After Louis is a story about a boy names Louis who has autism. A young girl in his class talks to him, but Louis just responds by repeating what she says. When they go outside for recess, some of the students ask Louis if he wants to play, but he just repeats what they say or does not move. One day at recess Louis runs out onto the field where the other boys are playing soccer and started chasing a boy, Sam, playfully around the field. Later that day Louis drew a picture of him playing soccer, so the teacher let him and Sam go play soccer outside. The young girl asks why Louis is allowed to go outside and play during school time, and she learns that you're "allowed to break the rules for special people."

I liked this story and the fact that it promoted the idea of accepting and understanding the differences within people. The little girl learns why Louis is allowed to go outside, and more importantly, understands it. Sam also accepts Louis and lets him play in their soccer game. I think that it shows that you should accept people for who they are and that, when given the chance, they can surprise you. I also like how the author incorporates different aspects of autism into the story. Someone who reads this story can begin to understand some of the characteristics of autism, and some of their tendencies as individuals. It also shows how Louis is in his own world at times, which is something that autistic kids tend to do. The one thing that bothered me, and I actually had to read the story very slowly and carefully to make sure, is that it does not mention that Louis has autism. I feel like that for someone, like the little girl in the story, to truly understand what is going on, they need to know what the disability is. At the end of the story, there is a section explaining that Louis has autism, and it also talks about what it is. However, I would have liked to see some of this information in the actual story.