Helen Keller - Fiona Macdonald

Part of a series which covers the lives of 24 leading humanitarians, peacemakers and conservationists, all of whom have made a major contribution to the world around them. The books provide reading on famous lives for children at a formative age.;Helen Keller was a happy and healthy baby until, at 19 months, she was suddenly struck down by a severe illness. When she recovered she could not hear or see - her world was one of complete silence and darkness. Gradually she forgot all the words she had learnt and stopped speaking. She was locked into an impenetrable world.;A young teacher named Anne Sullivan, after weeks of fighting and struggling to reach Helen by shaping letters onto her hands, made contact with the frustrated child. After that breakthrough into the everyday world Helen and Anne became inseparable.;Once Helen could communicate - feeling people's lips and throats as they spoke and spelling onto their hands - she was totally committed to helping others with problems similar to her own. She devoted her life to touring all over the world in the name of the American Foundation for the Blind. She fought for the rights of people with special needs and compaigned for many humanitarian causes. In spite of her own situation, Helen Keller devoted her life to giving hope and love to others. She had triumphed over cruel physical disabilities to achieve a brilliant career as a writer, feminist, social activist and campaigner on behalf of people with special needs all over the world.