Lucky Me

In this picture book, the young protagonist, Bruno, vividly describes two of his closest relationships: one with his best friend, Sanjay, and the other with his brother, Mateo. The book opens with a description of Bruno’s playdates with Sanjay. At Sanjay’s house, the two boys set up elaborate battles with toy soldiers which take up the entire living room and engage the boys in immersive imaginative games. However, when the boys play at Bruno’s house, things are different: the boys play video games or watch movies so they don’t re-arrange the furniture. Everything has to stay in place because of Bruno’s brother, Mateo. But the reasons for this difference are not immediately explained.

By the midpoint in the book, however, it becomes clear that Mateo has severe vision loss. But instead of treating his lack of vision as a limitation, Bruno focuses on all the things Mateo is able to do: Mateo has an outstanding memory, he has a fantastic sense of direction, he is able to read in the dark, and – best of all – he has a seeing eye dog named Rocco. Bruno looks up to his brother and appreciates all the things he is able to do that Bruno, himself, cannot.

The cartoon-style illustrations have a charmingly retro feel and complement the positive story well. They warmly depict Bruno, his home, his imaginary world, and his relationships with his best friend and with his brother. Mateo’s visual disability is normalized, and young readers will enjoy re-reading the book to identify the ways in which Mateo’s family support him so that he can live an independent and rewarding life. Rather than feeling sorry for Mateo, Bruno appreciates and admires him: “I am so lucky – I have an awesome brother and a really good friend!”

Lucky Me is an outstanding book to help children empathize with people with any form of disability and understand that a disability does not need to limit an individual’s freedom, achievements, or enjoyment of life. The book concludes with a short history of braille and a
braille alphabet.