By Patricia Polacco
Patricia Polacco's true story: a girl who can't read, who's decided she's stupid, and the fifth-grade teacher who figures out why and helps her learn to read.
Trisha can't wait to read; everyone in her family loves books. But when she starts school, the letters won't hold still. They wiggle and swim, and she falls further behind every year, until she's sure she's dumb. A boy named Eric taunts her about it in front of the class. In fifth grade, Mr. Falker notices what no one else has: she can't read, but she draws like an artist. He stops Eric, and after school he and a reading teacher work with her until she reads. Trisha grew up to be Patricia Polacco.
I'd choose this for a child who has started to believe that struggling with reading means they aren't smart. It also makes a meaningful thank-you for a teacher who noticed what a child needed. It's a long, serious picture book, best for a seven- to eleven-year-old who can handle a story that spends a long time with bullying and shame before it gets better.