Children With Disabilities In Tom Parker's The Acorn People

The book “The Acorn People” was written by Ron Jones and illustrated by Tom Parker. In 1976, a Banton Book Company published this book based off a true story. In “The Acorn People” one hundred and twenty disabled children went to a disability camp called Camp Wiggins. They didn’t let their disabilities take over by accomplishing different activities every day. These camper collected acorns to make acorn necklaces, hiked for six miles to reach the top of Look Out Mountain, learned how to cook, and created and filmed a play. I enjoyed this book and would recommend this book to other people/students to read. I believe this book displays that children with disabilities can accomplish anything they set their minds to. These children are a real inspiration. In reading this book, I realize some times we take things for granted that take less time or energy to complete.
“The Acorn People” book takes place at a disability camp called Camp

Wiggins. A two-week summer camp for one hundred and twenty disability children, is nothing like anyone would imagine. Ron and Dominic were two of the camp counselors and had five campers in their group. Benny B. was a young small boy, who was diagnosed with polio and in a wheel chair. His wheel chair never stopped him, he cruises around camp and is very fast. Spider was a handicapped child, who didn’t have fluid or oxygen going to his brain. He also didn’t have legs but he loved to talk. Thomas Stewart was a child who had muscular sclerosis, which means, he did not have any fiber or muscles. Martin was blind and always had a smile on his face. He was also very likeable and very outgoing. Last and not least, Aaron Gerwaski, also known as Arid, he was born without a bladder. Since he doesn’t have a bladder, he has to carry a bag at all time for his urine. Arid, didn’t have many friends due to his smell. Every camper that went to this camp had a disability and didn’t let their disabilities define who they were or what they could do.
During their first day at camp, after breakfast at the dining hall, they were chosen to have craft time in the morning and swimming time in afternoon. The boys went to make crafts and ended up making acorn necklaces. Each of the seven people had an acorn necklace and they were calling themselves “The Acorn People”. It took about an hour for them to get ready to go swimming. While everyone was swimming, it made them feel free and they had lots of fun. Everyone was excited to know and see that Spider could really swim all by himself.
They were now at camp for three days and were having lots of fun. At Camp Wiggins, girls and boys didn’t swim together. The scheduling became messed up and the boys and girls ended up swimming together. They were all smiling, giggling, and having such a good time. Mary, a blind young lady ended up having an acorn necklace. We came to find out that Arid gave it to her. The boys decided to make more acorn necklaces for everyone in the camp.
A six mile hike up a mountain is a lot, agreed? Martin asked Ron and Dominic, if they could climb Look Out Mountain. The camp counselors thought about it and then agreed to climb the mountain with the campers. Before you knew it, they were hiking up the mountain. Benny had stopped to take a rest and Spider explained “I hereby name this place as Benny’s Landing”. This mountain spot was also considered as the Acorn Society. More than half way through the path, it became harder to push the wheel chairs up the mountain because of the gravel. They wanted to keep going but they had to find another way to get up to the top. Nothing could stop them from reaching the top of the mountain. After six miles of hiking, they finally made it to the top of Look Out Mountain.
They had found out the night before the parents were coming to visit. After breakfast they cleaned up and prepared for their parents to come. Mr. Bradshaw asked the Acorn People to label everything around the camp. When their parents came they showed them the camp and Mr. Bradshaw told them he had a treat for them. Their treat was a film about Water Safety. Later that night, Mrs. Nelson, the camp nurse who was also a World War II nurse, decided to take down all the labels.
The next day during breakfast at the dining hall, the children asked who took down all the labels. Ron finally told them that Mrs. Nelson had taken them down last night. The campers told her she was a camp hero. They claimed “she gave us back the chance to be children. To dream and play.”
Ten days into the summer camp, the boys and girls decided to have a dance party. The girls planned the party, they got dressed, did their hair, and the boys got ready too. After dancing for a while, the announced king and queen of Camp Wiggins. Camp Wiggins King became Aaron and Mrs. Nelson became Camp Queen. Aaron was so honored and thrilled. Camp Wiggins would be closing next Saturday, Mr. Bradshaw explained and everyone was sad.
With three days left at camp, Mrs. Nelson had a huge idea to end an awesome summer. Her idea was to create a play about their time at camp and water ballet. They would have reporters at the play, along with their parents. It was the day before Camp Wiggins would close. Mrs. Nelson planned the whole play and made sure everyone had a special part. There would be divers, racers, and dancers.
Saturday was finally here and the campers were extremely excited to see their families and perform their play. Parents were taking their seats. “Camp Wiggins Water Extravaganza” was about to start. Everyone was in their spots and Mrs. Nelson started the story. Their parents were so excited and very proud of them. The play was over and everyone started to say their goodbyes and leave. Ron and Dominic didn’t get a chance to see the Acorn Society before they left. This summer meant a lot to Ron because they became very close with each of the members. Ron didn’t like the camp when it first started but then finally realized he really enjoyed it. He knew that most of these children wouldn’t live past ten more years.
While reading the epilog, it explained that all the children had passed away.

The two camp counselors stayed close to the five campers. Thomas and Aaron passed away one year later. Spider was killed in a car, a year later. Four years later, Martin passed away in a car accident. Benny B. was still alive. When Benny B. and Ron saw each other, Benny’s mom gave Ron a crumpled acorn necklace. She explained to him, he gave one to everyone Benny met.
Reading “The Acorn People” for the third time, I really enjoyed this story and also understood it more. This story showed everyone that just because you have a disability doesn’t mean your life stops. They might have to work ten times harder but they can still do it. My favorite part of this book was when Mrs. Nelson took down the labels because it showed that she believes that they shouldn’t feel like they are labelled. This story makes me have mixed emotions. I feel extremely happy for them and all they have accomplished but then sad because it’s not fair to them that they have to live like

that.
I do feel this book was appropriate for this book because it shows you how children with disabilities can do so much. I learned that, there are so many different disabilities that children live with nowadays. The author did achieve his purpose while writing and telling this story. Mr. Jones’ writing was powerful, beautiful, interesting, and effective. This story was a non-fiction, real life story and he relive the story, while writing the book. I really enjoyed this book and it was a powerful story. While reading it, it was interesting and moving. I would defiantly recommend this book to many people because it is based on a real story and is a good reminder that sometimes we do take things for granted.
“The Acorn People” is a touching story about children with disabilities that go to a disability camp. Ron and Dominic try there hardest to make their five campers have fun and a good summer. During their summer, they became cooks, actors, mountain climbers, racers, kings, bead makers, and much more. Boys and girls with disabilities are no different than normal people. They are simply people having to work hard for what they want. Thank you Mr. Ron Jones for sharing this personal, inspiring, and heart-touching story with the world.