This was a moving short read of stories about pupils with profound special needs & the teacher who found a way into their world. Told with empathy & humour, it was a lovely read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

This is a short heart-warming book. To teach children with profound, and multiple, disabilities needs a talented and dedicated individual/Staff. Hats off to Darlene. In this short book the reader gets a little window into school life for the children in one school through the eyes of their teacher. The anecdotes show the fun and some of the difficulties these children can have in their education. Thank you to Atmosphere press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Once There Was a Child by Darlene Pscheidell Kwarta was a beautifully written short memoir that will have you hooked from the beginning. Before you know it you will be at the last page of this small wonderful book. The author, Darlene Pscheidell Kwarta, was a special education teacher in a middle school where she taught many students who are deaf and with special needs - meaning her students had more than one disability as well as deafness. She gave showed her students kindness and gave them all every opportunity that she could, everyday they were in her class.

This job can be tough but so rewarding as I did this job before I retired. This was my dream job and I was so glad I had a chance to read it.

Big hugs to Darlene Pscheidell Kwarta and bug thank you to netgalley and publisher for my copy to read and review.

The stories in this short memoir tugged at my heartstrings. So many children with various disabilities! I have known a few deaf people, and come to realize how much of life they miss out on because they are not able to hear what is going on around them, but to add other disabilities on top of that—what a challenge for the teacher! Some of these stories are almost unbelievable, such as the children who knew things that they shouldn’t have been able to know—and the teachers and psychologists had no idea how the children knew them. I came away from this book with a deep respect for special ed teachers.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

This book is short and sweet. The author, Darlene Pscheidell Kwarta, was a special education teacher in a middle school where she taught the multi-handicapped deaf class, meaning her students had one or more disabilities along with deafness. She did this job willingly and joyfully, giving her students every possible opportunity that she could. They went on field trips even though it was quite difficult and she taught them valuable life lessons.

This book is touching in so many ways. All 74 pages of it were a delight. For me, this is a 4-star read and I would recommend it to most everyone. Thank you, NetGalley and Atmosphere Press for the ARC.

I was so excited to read this book hoping it would be similar to a Torey Hayden memoir. Sadly it was far from it. Not a book but a very long pamphlet it was simplistic, poorly edited and gave no more than a glossy overview of a year in the life of a special education teacher. There was next to no detail and each chapter was over before it got started. Perhaps it would be a good book for middle schoolers to understand what working in special ed was like but for an adult this wasn’t worth the half hour it took to read it.

Once There Was a Child is the memoir of Darlene Pscheidell Kwarta's time with a particular class of special education students. She was their middle school teacher. All of the children had at least 2 different disabilities. All were Deaf and some were also blind, on the autism spectrum, or had behavioral issues. Darlene saw the potential in each of her students and took them on the best field trips to learn life skills and just have fun. Her story was touching. At times it made me smile and laugh while at other times, I got teary-eyed. This book is very short at just 74 pages, and I flew through it in under 2 hours. The writing was very simplistic and left me wanting more depth, but I still really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Atmosphere Press and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

Once There Was a Child
by Darlene Pscheidell Kwarta
Pub Date 20 Oct 2022 | Archive Date 17 Aug 2023
Atmosphere Press
Biographies & Memoirs| Nonfiction \(Adult\)


I am reviewing a copy of Once There Was a Child through Atmosphere Press and Netgalley:



Darlene always felt like an outsider as a child, and she was drawn to those like her. She learned sign language from her deaf neighbor, Joe, and was the only one in the neighborhood who knew how to communicate with him. Darlene was inspired by Helen Keller's story. As did the movie Teacher Teacher, which tells the story of a teacher with many demons working with a lonely, severely autistic boy. These teachers introduced both of these children to a world they might not have known otherwise. Darlene wanted to make a difference.


Darlene Kwarta chronicles her journey with neglected children in her first book, ONCE THERE WAS A CHILD.



I give Once There was A Child five out of five stars!

Happiest Reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
What a heartwarming book! We need more people like the teachers, principal, and support staff in this book that has such a positive impact on the lives of these sweet kids.
This was a pretty short book and I would love to see a longer, more indepth version some day.
Well done, Mrs. Kwarta!