Author Bonnie Bader
Illustrator Melissa Manwill
Originally Published © 2018 American Girl
ISBN 9781338193039

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Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27th, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her parents, Arthur and Kate Keller, loved her very much. She was a fun and beautiful baby. She was very smart. By six months, Helen could say a few words such as tea, and wah-wah, which meant water. She started to walk at age one.

When Helen was about a year and a half old, she got a very high fever. The doctor wasn’t sure what was wrong with her, and he called her sickness “brain fever.” For several days her family worried she would die. but then her fever went away.

Later Helen’s mother passed her hands in front of Helen’s face. Helen just stared straight ahead, it didn’t seem like she could see anything. When the bell rang for dinner, Helen couldn’t hear the sound. Not only was Helen blind, she was deaf, too. Helen’s parents took her to see a doctor, but he said there was nothing he could do to help. Helen Keller’s world was now dark and silent.