The Smart
Princess
And Other Deaf Tales
The Smart Princess
And Other Deaf Tales
A Project of the
Canadian Cultural Society
of the Deaf
By
Keelin Carey
Kristina Guévremont
Nicole Marsh
Nicholas Meloche-Kales
Déna Ruiter-Koopmans
Illustrated by
Kelly C. Halligan
Eugeniu Televco
Colleen C. Turner
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
The smart princess.
Written and illustrated by winners of the Ladder Awards.
ISBN 1-896764-90-8
ISBN 978-1-896764-90-0
1. Deaf—Juvenile fiction. 2. Children’s stories, Canadian (English) 3. Deaf, Writings of the, Canadian (English) 4. Canadian fiction— 21st century.
PS8323.D35S53 2006 jC813’.010835272 C2006-901349-7
Copyright © 2006 by
The Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf
First published in the USA in 2007
Copyedited by Alison Reid
Front cover illustration by Colleen Turner
Printed and bound in Canada
Second Story Press gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program.
Published by
Second Story Press
20 Maud Street, Suite 401
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
www.secondstorypress.ca
These stories by Deaf youth and young adults from the Deaf community are a product of the Ladder Awards II: Story SwapTM Program graciously funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada, National Literacy Secretariat (NLS). We wish to honor the memories of two beloved individuals with these stories — Clayton Valli, American renowned American Sign Language poet who mentored many Deaf Canadians, and Phoebe Gilman, Canadian award-winning picture book author and illustrator who mentored many Deaf Canadians in the first Ladder Awards Project.
Joanne Cripps and Anita Small, MSc, EdD
Co-Directors
Deaf Culture Centre
Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf
Contents
The Smart Princess
Earth 2
My Life Changed
My Tiger
Best Friends
The Smart Princess
-by Déna Ruiter-Koopmans
Once upon a time a little girl was born to a king and queen. They named her Lyla. Everyone agreed that Princess Lyla was adorable indeed.
When their daughter was a few months old, the king and queen noticed that she couldn’t hear anything.
They clapped their hands and called her name, but Lyla didn’t respond. She just kept playing quietly as if she hadn’t heard them at all.
They decided to take her to the doctor, whose name was Sarah Jane. She gave Lyla many tests, and soon found that the girl was Deaf. Because Dr. Sarah Jane did not know much about Deaf people, she told the king and queen not to bother trying to teach their daughter anything. Deaf people, she was sure, could not learn.
Luckily, the king and queen had already noticed that their daughter was, in fact, very smart. So they ignored the doctor’s advice, and when Lyla was old enough, they enrolled her in the Royal School for Deaf Girls, a few hours away by royal coach.