KAMI AND THE YAKS by Andrea Stenn Stryer is a perfect award winner for the Schneider Family award. This award goes to a book that demonstrates artistically an understanding of the disability experience of a child or young adolescent. Kami demonstrates how deafness does not prevent a person from being wise and capable of doing anything that others could do with hearing.
Kami is the son and brother of Sherpa guides. When his father and brother, Norgay, go to find the yaks to lead an expedition up Everest, Kami feels they are looking in the wrong place for the yaks. Even though he can smell the lightning and feel the rumble of the thunder very close, Kami does not allow his deafness and fear of the storm to prevent him from finding the yaks. After searching all of their favorite spots in this storm environment, he finally finds the yaks. Sadly the smallest yak's leg is trapped between two large stones, and the other yaks will not leave him. Through pounding hail that almost prevents Kami from getting home safely in the perilous conditions the storm creates in this high mountain area, Kami reaches home to see his angry father. Through imitations and persistence, Kami gets his brother Norgay to realize he has found the yaks in trouble. Norgay and their father follow Kami to save the littlest yak and lead the yaks home. Kami proudly knows he has proven to his father that he is capable of doing great things beyond his deafness disability.
The author follows this story with an explanation of how Sherpas live and work in the Everest region of Nepal. The details Andrea Stenn Stryer shares about the Sherpas' lives will give the students an incite into a life they may never have the opportunity to experience.
This is a wonderful picture book read-aloud for my students. We have a student that is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids. This book would help the students to see that this disability just makes him stronger in so many other ways. Just like the book FIREGIRL by Tony Abbott made an impact on all of the students in our school last year when a severely burned Kindergartner came to our school. Books have such a power to teach understanding and give opportunities to discuss feelings about different issues, particularly disabilities. Our school houses the Structured Learning and Community Base students for our side of the district, so the staff and I are always on the look out for good books to teach about disabilities.
