It’s National Story Telling Week!
Sometimes it’s difficult to find stories we can relate to, unless there is a character that we can liken to ourselves or our friends, which often isn’t the case for those with additional needs. A lot of the time, children’s books lack diversity when it comes to characters with disabilities or special needs.
This can be hard for our little readers as they may feel left out or forgotten from these fantastic adventures, when we should be embracing them and teaching all children that we should accept everyone no matter how different they are to ourselves. So here we have compiled a list of 10 very special stories for you. All of these books incorporate special needs or disabilities in their stories in some way.
1. Featherless/Desplumado
Author: Juan Felipe Herrera
Illustrator: Ernesto Cuevas Jr.
Age Range: 6+
A beautiful story, this book focuses on a little boy called Tomasito, with Spina Bifida, who is having trouble getting used to his new school. To try to cheer him up, his father brings him a featherless bird as a pet. Tomasito wants nothing to do with Desplumado, until Tomasito finds a place on the soccer team and discovers there’s more than one way to fly.
2. Our Stripy Baby
Author: Gillian Shields
Illustrator: Paula Metcalfe
Age Range: 2+
This story is all about a family of aliens who are bright purple and covered in spots. Their little girl Zara Moon is waiting for her baby brother Zack to be born, but is shocked to find him arrive with a stripy body. At first Zara is very sad about this and worries that the other aliens will laugh when they’re in the park, because he’s so different. She even wraps him up in a spotted scarf to cover his stripes! Mummy and daddy Moon explain to Zara that they don’t mind that Zack has a stripy body and that they love him anyway because he’s part of the family. Zara is very sad and wishes they didn’t even have the baby, until that is, she realises how happy and loving her baby brother is. She draws him a picture of a beautiful stripy rainbow and says sorry for being cross.
3. Best Friends, A Pop-up Book
Author: Tango Books
Illustrator: Mark Chambers
Age Range: 5+
This book follows a boy in a wheelchair and his best friend, and all the adventures that they get up to. They play on pirate ships, fly into outer space, climb mountains and do all sorts of never ending exploring. But, the story also shows them having fun in their everyday life together, swimming, running and playing because everything is the best adventure when you’re with your best friend!
4. Just Because
Author: Rebecca Elliott
Illustrator: Rebecca Elliott
Age Range: 2+
A story all about a brother’s love for his sister, he says, “‘My big sister Clemmie is my best friend. She can’t walk, talk, move around much, cook macaroni, pilot a plane, juggle or do algebra. I don’t know why she doesn’t do these things. Just because.’ He is so excited about how special and amazing his sister is and all the fantastic adventures that they go on, and it isn’t until later on that you realise Clemmie has special needs. You accept it just like her brother does without question, it’s just because. This is a great book that explores disability within sibling friendship and wonderfully highlights how it can be easily accepted by an innocent mind.
5. Sosu’s Call
Author: Meshack Asare
Illustrator: Meshack Asare
Age Range: 4+
This is a story about empowerment and over coming limitations. Sosu lives in an African village and one day while he is there all alone he notices flood waters coming into the village, all the other villagers are out in the fields while the only ones left are the very young or the very old and himself, who cannot walk. Somehow Sosu manages to get himself up the hill and away from the rising waters, up to the drum shed where he sounds the alarm. Sosu saves his village and everyone in it. This is a wonderful story about accepting differences and overcoming difficulties, very heart-warming.
6. Rolling Along with Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Author: Cindy Meyers
Illustrator: Carol Morgan
Age Range: 3+
“Once upon a time, there were three bears: a great big papa bear, a middle-sized mama bear, and a baby bear who used a wheelchair to get around. They lived in the forest in a house that had ramps instead of steps for baby bear…”. This is, as you would expect, a twist on a classic story, incorporating special needs in a wonderfully seamless way. This challenges the ‘normal’ fairytale and changes your whole perspective on Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Baby bear is in a wheelchair and goes to physio therapy and he and Goldilocks end up making friends as the book closes. A wonderful classic now turned into a book to relate to.
7. Calm Down Boris
Author: Sam Lloyd
Illustration: Sam Lloyd
Age Range: 2+
This book appeals to the little sensor in your life, all about Boris the lovely friendly monster who often gets too overenthusiastic and, although he means well, can often spoil things. In the book the reader is asked to help Boris, such as brushing his hair or feeding him, being smothered by grateful kisses in return. You go through the book helping Boris and playing with him and he even saves you from a big scary dog! It’s a brilliant book and the hand puppet really brings it to life, your child can interact with the story, getting kisses, stroking Borris’ fur and bringing this monster character to life.
8. The Junkyard Wonders
Author: Patricia Polacco
Illustrator: Patricia Polacco
Age Range: 6+
After moving away from her previous school because she didn’t want to be in a special class anymore, Trisha is devastated to find out her new class in her new school is referred to as ‘The Junkyard’. Then she meets her teacher, the amazing and unbeatable Mrs. Peterson, and her classmates, an oddly brilliant group of students each with his or her own unique talent. And it is here in The Junkyard that Trisha learns the true meaning of genius, and that this group of misfits are actually all amazing.
9. Snug!
Author: Carol Thompson
Illustration: Carol Thompson
Age Range: 1+
This book is all about asking our reader what makes you feel snug? It features a child wearing glasses and a wheel chair user, so rather than the book being about them or them being a main character, they simply appear with the rest of the children, it doesn’t draw attention to it as being different, they are just part of a group. This book can also be added to by using soft materials to stroke against your child’s hand or face while talking about what makes them snug.
10. Don’t Call Me Special
Author: Pat Thomas
Illustrator: Lesley Harker
Age Range: 4+
This story describes itself as a ‘first look on disability’ and explores questions and concerns about physical disabilities in a sensitive and simplistic way. Children can find out about individual disabilities and the kind of specialist equipment that has to be used. It shows how people of all abilities can lead a happy and fulfilling life, this book is brilliant to help siblings understand disabilities and all that surround it.
All it takes is a quick search online and you can find a wealth of children’s literature that approach disabilities in all different ways, some that you had never thought of before.
Here are some useful websites to look on;
www.scope.org.uk
www.goodreads.com
www.littleparachutes.com
www.humaneeducation.org