5 Children’s Books About Disability to Read
Books are a critical tool to introduce children to stories like and unlike their own experiences. Representation and diversity in books help children to learn about the world around them and themselves.
Here are five books to share with your children this summer for some extracurricular reading! Find them at your favourite library, bookstore, or reading app!
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Here’s Hank: Bookmarks Are People Too! by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
Best for: Young Readers
Hank is excited about putting on a play for Children’s Reading Week. Hank has dyslexia, and is pretty nervous about reading and memorizing the script for the play. With some help from his friend Frankie, Hank faces down his schoolwork. His relationships with Frankie and his grandfather help Hank when things get too hard.
Different classroom characters, like the attention-seeking student or the spelling-bee winner will have young children laughing and thinking about their own classmates.
Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis & Tony Ross
Best for: Younger Readers
Told in rhyme, Susan Laughs is all about doing the things you love - swimming, learning in school, playing with friends. This portrait of a happy little girl will be easy for younger readers to identify with. It’s not until the end of the story that it is revealed that Susan uses a wheelchair.
On a reread, we can see that Susan is never unassisted, but we do not realize that she is a wheelchair user until the final illustration.
This show-and-tell story outlines spunky Susan’s life in a way that focuses on all the things she loves to do, focusing on her abilities.
King for a Day by Rukhsana Khan
Best for: Younger Readers
Ever heard of Kite Fighting? This traditional sport is the basis of this story. Malik has built a special, speedy kite for Basant, a festival of feasts, parties and kite fighting!
Malik will have to kite battle with many people, including his bully. His special kite leaps and dives, capturing the other kites and eventually winning him the title of king of Basant.
This multicultural picture book set in Pakistan focuses on the resourcefulness of Malik, a wheelchair user, his determination and his kindness.
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Best for: Middle Grade Readers
Cece, a young girl who previously went to a school where everyone is Deaf, is having a hard time adjusting to her new school, where she stands out. Her hearing aid is strapped to her chest, allowing her to hear the teacher, but she feels it might be making it hard for her to make new friends.
Things are about to get even more interesting when she realizes that her hearing aid, the Phonic Ear, allows her to have super hearing - she can hear her teacher from anywhere in the school, not just the classroom! What does it mean to have superpowers? Will it help with her loneliness, or make it worse?
This graphic novel about growing up hard of hearing is also an unforgettable book about growing up.
Roll With It by Jamie Sumner
Best for: Middle Grade Readers
Ellie’s a girl who isn’t afraid to speak her mind and tell it how it is. Her dreams of becoming a baker are all she thinks about until Ellie and her mom have to move to a new town to help her grandfather. That means Ellie has to start all over again at a new school and make new friends, which she finds challenging since she “lives on the wrong side of town”. It all feels like too much, until Ellie starts to make friends - now she has to convince her mom that moving might have been the best thing ever!
Explore Possible
This blog post is part of Explore Possible, an initiative by Manitoba Possible to amplify stories, perspectives about disability, accessibility, and inclusion.
Read more at manitobapossible.ca/explore-possible or continue on to our latest post in the bottom right!