![]() ![]() Falker, telling the story of the Willard teacher who changed her life. Eventually Polacco would become a successful author and illustrator, writing scores of illustrated storybooks. He recognized that she needed help, and found Polacco a reading specialist who started her on the path to literacy. ![]() Felker then asked Polacco to help in the classroom after school, where he surreptitiously tested her skills by asking her to write letters and numbers with a sponge while she was cleaning blackboards. Polacco never told anyone about the bullying, but one day Mr. She was teased for her differences and at Willard a bully singled her out for special torment. Although she was artistically gifted, she suffered from dyslexia and other learning disabilities, most of them unrecognized in the 1950s. ![]() Polacco’s adolescence was “grim,” in her words. And that life-changing event came about at Willard Junior High, thanks to the efforts of a caring English teacher, George Felker. Fans of Patricia Polacco’s children’s books may be surprised to know that the award-winning author and illustrator didn’t learn to read until she was 14 years old. ![]()
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