Alice’s shoe by Julie Thorndyke

An Australian hero few of us know about, the story of Alice Betteridge deserves wider recognition and this beautifully designed book will promote an understanding of who she was and what she achieved.

Born in the Hunter Valley in NSW in 1901, her father ran a dairy and Alice would run with him as he brought in the cows, often having a vantage point on his shoulders. She loved the outdoors and tore off her shoes at every opportunity. But one day she toppled over with a burning fever. Put to bed she slept for days and when she woke she could neither see nor hear. In Sydney the family was told to bring her back when she was older to gain some education. 

She kept up her life on her parents' farm, learning to differentiate the range of floor coverings, playing with the animals, until she was seven. Then she returned to Sydney to go to school. Her teacher used her shoe to teach her the word in Deafblind language and when she finally realised what her teacher was showing her, she was on her way.

The sepia style illustrations reflect the times around Federation in Australia, the lack of colour reminding the reader that Alice could not see. The images are photographic in their presentation, depicting scenes on the farm before Alice became deafblind, and her life on the farm learning to live with this disability, and her time at school where her teacher taught her the Deafblind Alphabet using Alice’s shoe as the stepping off point. 

It is a lovely book, its style and design making the story resonate with compassion. The story of Alice’s life to age seven will encourage readers to look more closely at Alice’s life and find out what she achieved. The last page outlines the Deafblind Alphabet which children will be able to learn and practise. Next to the Deafblind Alphabet is the Braille Alphabet giving readers a chance to empathise with those who live with  vision loss.

There is surprisingly little about Alice on the internet. A small article from Wikipedia can be seen at here while more about the school that bears her name can be viewed here and an article naming her as Australia’s Helen Keller can be seen by searching that title. Teacher's notes are available.

Themes: Vision loss, Blindness, Deafblind, Deafblind alphabet, Braille.

Fran Knight